Biography and photo courtesy of Judge Tim Oakes.
Judge Oakes’ career is spread among politics, the law, all three branches of government, business, real estate and teaching. The only child of a framer of homes and a janitor at RCA-Indianapolis, he remains a proud Kentuckian, and his humble near-eastside Indianapolis upbringing has taken him from the foothills of Appalachia, to the trailer parks of Massachusetts Ave, Tech High School, Wabash College, Oxford, Law School, a Governor’s office, U.S. Attorney’s office, Indianapolis Mayor’s office, the Indiana Court of Appeals, the Marion County Prosecutor and Public Defender offices, the Indiana legislature, numerous campaigns and businesses, and the halls of teaching at our universities and law schools. Judge Oakes likes to joke: he’s either garnered a vast amount of experience, or he can’t hold down a job – you decide.
Before being elected Judge in 2008, Tim Oakes served as the President and General Counsel of the Indiana Cable Telecommunications Association (ICTA) from March 2004 to December of 2008. He represented the interests of the state’s cable providers before legislative, legal, and regulatory entities. Immediately prior to joining ICTA, Tim had practiced law as a sole practitioner for eight years at Oakes Law Office specializing in criminal defense, family law, government affairs, and probate. As part of his practice, and during the legislative sessions of 2001-2004, Tim also served as Contract Legal Counsel to the Indiana House of Representatives.
Judge Oakes’ docket in Marion County is a general civil docket, but previously included a family law docket, an environmental court docket and a mass tort asbestos docket.
Judge Oakes remains engaged in real estate, now for over 25 years, primarily these days in his birth state of Kentucky, the Lake Cumberland area, and still manages a family farm, which has been in the Oakes family since 1907.
Tim also currently serves as Adjunct Professor for School of Forensics Science, IU-Indy and serves on their Board of Visitors. He continues to teach both undergraduate and graduate level courses on Law and Forensic Science. Previously, Tim has taught at their School for Public and Environmental Affairs (SPEA), teaching Evidence and Criminal Law, and to the Indiana University School of Law- Indianapolis (McKinney), teaching an original course on Judicial Selection with Professor Joel Schumm over multiple semesters.
Judge Oakes’ legal career has included many leadership stops. He has served a Presiding Judge of the Marion Superior Courts from 2016-17, where he helped facilitate the final approval of the new community justice campus, courts, and new jail – all opening in 2022. That tenure also helped lay the foundation for the new operational model for the Courts. Tim has served terms on the Indiana Judges Association Board of Directors and on the Board of Directors for the Indianapolis Bar Association. He is a Distinguished Life Fellow with the Indianapolis Bar Foundation and was awarded the Indiana Lawyer’s Leadership In Law recognition in 2015. Tim’s favorite leadership post however, is one that brings him closest to one of his passions – young people. Early in Tim’s judicial career, the Indiana Supreme Court appointed him to serve on the Board of Law Examiners, Character and Fitness Committee. Interviewing prospective lawyers continues to be one of the biggest highlights of his varied career.
Politically and legally, Tim had previously worked on the staffs of former Governor Robert D. Orr, Mayors William Hudnut, and Steve Goldsmith, Appeals Court Judge Linda Chezem (Law Clerk 1990-1992), and Marion County Prosecutor Scott Newman. In addition to his half of a decade of work at the Indiana legislature, and also during his private practice years, Tim served on many campaign committees, at all levels of government, raising money and supporting candidates with his time and experience before taking the bench.
Active in his community, Tim has served on the Boards of KIPP Indy Schools, Child Advocates, Marion County Public Defender Agency, Rock Steady Boxing, Tech High School Community Council, and as President of the Butler Tarkington Neighborhood Association, as well as numerous other boards, commissions, as well as children's sports and coaching programs, over his career. His family remains a member of St. Thomas Aquinas Parish and School, and Judge Oakes currently serves as a Class Agent for Wabash College where he received his undergraduate degree in 1986, also spending one semester abroad in Oxford England in 1985. Judge Oakes received his J.D. from Indiana University School of Law-Indianapolis (McKinney) in 1991.
Tim’s wife, Tessa, is an RN/MSN at IU Health - Endoscopy. They have four children, ages 22, 19, 15 and 15.
