Judge Earl G. Penrod first took the bench on January 1, 1983 upon his election as judge of the Gibson County Court which became the Gibson Superior Court on January 1, 1985.
Judge Penrod joined the faculty at the National Judicial College in 2002 and he teaches for the American Bar Association/Judicial Division’s National Conference of Specialized Court Judges and he is presently on the Executive Committee and is a Past Chair of the NCSCJ. Judge Penrod serves as the American Bar Association Judicial Fellow in cooperation with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), a position he has held since November of 2012.
Judge Penrod has presented judicial education programs in a number of states across the country and has served as a presenter for the National Association of Women Law Judges, the National District Attorneys Association, the National Association of Administrative Law Judges, the Lifesavers National Conference on Highway Safety Priorities, CADCA National Leadership Forum, Governors Highway Safety Association Annual Meeting, the National Traffic Court Seminar and National Association of Drug Court Professionals (NADCP) Annual Training Conference.
Judge Penrod teaches for the Indiana Judicial Conference and is a member of the Indiana Special Courts Committee and a former member of the Indiana Judicial Education Committee, which he chaired from 2002-2006. In 2014, Judge Penrod was reappointed by the Governor of Indiana to serve on the Indiana Law Enforcement Training Board. In 2015, Judge Penrod received the William R. McMahon Award from the National Conference of Specialized Court Judges of the American Bar Association.
On December 31, 2016, Judge Penrod retired as Judge of the Gibson Superior Court (Indiana) after 34 years and is presently serving as a Senior Judge for the Indiana Office of Court Services, Judicial Education Division.
In March of 2017, Judge Penrod was presented the Lifesavers Public Service Safety Award by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Judge Penrod received his B.A. degree as well as his J.D. degree from the University of Louisville. In 2000, he earned the Master of Judicial Studies (M.J.S.) degree from the University of Nevada, Reno and he received an honorary Doctor of Laws Degree (LLD) from Oakland City University (Indiana) in 2010. He is a graduate of the Indiana Judicial College, the Graduate Program for Indiana Judges and was the first judicial officer to be granted a Master’s certificate from the Indiana Judicial College.