--- title: "Tanya Walton Pratt | KnowJudges" canonical: "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/tanya-w-pratt" page_type: "judge_profile" updated: "2026-10-09" --- # Tanya Walton Pratt U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana · Judge ## Profile - Court: U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana - State: Indiana - Role: Judge - Service status: active - Last verified: 2026-07-25 ## Summary Official judge-specific and circuitwide procedural guidance has been located for this profile. ## Biography ### Professional career - Judge, District Court, S.D. Indiana, 2010-present - Chief Judge: Served from March 20, 2021, to July 10, 2025 — the first person of color to hold this role in the Southern District of Indiana - Appointed: June 15, 2010, by President Barack Obama to fill the vacancy created when Judge David F. Hamilton was elevated to the Seventh Circuit - U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of Indiana, appointed in 2010, and the first African American federal judge in Indiana’s history - Judge, Marion County Indiana Superior Court, 1997-2010 - Marion Superior Court Judge (1997–2010): Criminal Division (1997–2008) and Probate Division (2009–2010) - Current position: Judge, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana - Judge Pratt’s appointment marked a milestone as the first African American federal judge in Indiana and the first person of color to serve as Chief Judge of the Southern District of Indiana ### Education - Spelman College — B.A. (1981) - Howard University School of Law ### Additional information - Private practice, Indianapolis, IN, 1984-1996 - Date of birth: 1959-01-01 ## Before you appear - Read the judge-specific standing order first when one is listed. - Check the docket and case orders for requirements that supersede broader guidance. - Confirm current remote-access and courtroom technology arrangements before the proceeding. ## Courtroom Rules ### courtroom technology Scope: judge specific Judge-specific source Evidence excerpt: Certain audio-visual equipment may be made available to Counsel for use in the courtroom during trial. If Counsel wish to use the Video Evidence Presentation System owned by the Southern District of Indiana, Counsel should contact the Courtroom Deputy at least three weeks prior to the start of the trial. Any equipment Counsel wishes to… [TWP%20Courtroom%20Procedures%20and%20Trial%20Practice.pdf](https://www.insd.uscourts.gov/sites/insd/files/TWP%20Courtroom%20Procedures%20and%20Trial%20Practice.pdf) Source checked: 2026-07-24 ### civil remote testimony Scope: courtwide In federal district-court civil proceedings, testimony is ordinarily taken in open court; remote contemporaneous testimony requires good cause in compelling circumstances and appropriate safeguards. Evidence excerpt: For good cause in compelling circumstances and with appropriate safeguards, the court may permit testimony in open court by contemporaneous transmission from a different location. [Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 43(a), Testimony in Open Court](https://www.uscourts.gov/forms-rules/current-rules-practice-procedure/federal-rules-civil-procedure) Source checked: 2026-07-26 ### criminal recording and broadcasting Scope: courtwide Federal district courts may not permit courtroom photography or broadcasting during criminal judicial proceedings unless a statute or another federal rule provides an exception. Evidence excerpt: Except as otherwise provided by a statute or these rules, the court must not permit the taking of photographs in the courtroom during judicial proceedings or the broadcasting of judicial proceedings from the courtroom. [Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 53, Courtroom Photographing and Broadcasting Prohibited](https://www.uscourts.gov/court-records/access-court-proceedings/remote-public-access-proceedings/history-cameras-broadcasting-and-remote-public-access-courts) Source checked: 2026-07-26 ## Sources - [Official profile](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1393246) - [Official roster](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1393246) - [Federal Judicial Center biography](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1393246) - [CourtListener judicial biographical directory](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/2617/tanya-walton-pratt/) - [TWP%20Courtroom%20Procedures%20and%20Trial%20Practice.pdf](https://www.insd.uscourts.gov/sites/insd/files/TWP%20Courtroom%20Procedures%20and%20Trial%20Practice.pdf) - [Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 43(a), Testimony in Open Court](https://www.uscourts.gov/forms-rules/current-rules-practice-procedure/federal-rules-civil-procedure) - [Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 53, Courtroom Photographing and Broadcasting Prohibited](https://www.uscourts.gov/court-records/access-court-proceedings/remote-public-access-proceedings/history-cameras-broadcasting-and-remote-public-access-courts) - [CourtListener judicial biographical directory](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/2617/tanya-walton-pratt/) - [Wikidata: Tanya Walton Pratt](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7684059) ## JSON-LD ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/tanya-w-pratt", "url": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/tanya-w-pratt", "name": "Tanya Walton Pratt | KnowJudges", "description": "Tanya Walton Pratt, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana. 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Section-specific exceptions, waivers, later amendments and case orders remain applicable. This is a source excerpt, not an exhaustive statement of the rule. [Official source](https://www.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/document/federal-rules-of-civil-procedure.pdf). Collected 2026-10-27. - [Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, December 1, 2025](https://knowjudges.com/courtroom-rules/national-shared-set-8721a344fececced2257fe1d) — Criminal proceedings in United States District Courts; this conservative mapping does not distribute appellate-specific provisions to appellate judges. Section-specific exceptions, waivers, later amendments and case orders remain applicable. This is a source excerpt, not an exhaustive statement of the rule. [Official source](https://www.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/document/federal-rules-of-criminal-procedure.pdf). Collected 2026-10-27.