Vicki Carmichael knew from a young age she wanted to practice law, and eventually become a judge.
Her interest was sparked in 7th grade when she went on a field trip to the courthouse.
Even though she didn’t fully understand the proceedings, “it just fascinated me to see the courtroom and to see this person in a black robe,” she said.
Carmichael didn’t realize until years later that the attorneys and judge were all men.
“It was still to me, that was something I wanted to do,” she said.
During her time on the bench, Carmichael has done a lot of work with families, and advocated for problem-solving courts to better support people experiencing substance use disorder or who need mental wellness resources.
Road to the bench
Carmichael grew up in Jeffersonville. She studied pre-law at Michigan State University for a time before returning home to attend IU Southeast and law school at the University of Louisville.
She started her career as a staff attorney at the Kentucky Supreme Court and in 1989 became the chief public defender in Clark County. She recalls some women attorneys taking her to lunch to advise her on how to respond if she was treated negatively.
“Their advice was ‘Just be yourself. You know what you’re doing. You’re a lawyer. You can do this. Just go prepared,’” she said.
Carmichael said she didn’t feel she was treated unfairly by male colleagues, but she never forgot the lesson on being prepared.
“And that's the way I always practiced,” she said. “I wanted to know as much as I could — more than I needed to know in a lot of situations about the case — so that when I got into court, if somebody asked me a question, I would have an answer. For me, that was the way you practice law.”
Carmichael spent six years as the chief public defender and practiced privately.
She ran unsuccessfully for judge of the now-abolished Jeffersonville City Court before winning that seat in 1999. She served nearly two terms before voters elected her three times as a Clark County judge.
She retired in late December and Republican Judge Lisa Reger, who Carmichael has mentored, was sworn into Clark County Circuit Court No. 4.
Changes in courts
Carmichael said she’s seen a “monumental shift” for the better in the way courts handle defendants with certain charges, or who need mental health or substance use support.
“When I started practicing criminal defense, it was, ‘what's the best deal I can get for my client?’” she said. “It wasn't ‘let's treat their mental health, let's treat their addiction.’”
It’s a change Carmichael has been instrumental in implementing in Southern Indiana. She’s been a proponent of growing the area’s problem-solving courts, along with others in the local judicial systems and the support of the state and Indiana Chief Justice Loretta Rush.
In her court, Carmichael handled a lot of the county’s higher level felony and murder cases. But she’s also proceeded over family, juvenile and Children in Need of Services (CHINS) cases.
When she started the Clark County Family Recovery Court in 2011, she said it was to help families confronting substance use disorders.
“I saw parents who were losing their kids because of addiction issues, and I said ‘There's got to be a better way. We've got to fix this,’” she said.
Early on, though, she and her staff didn’t see the successes they were hoping for.
They asked participants what was missing. They heard the parents wanted options for things including longer-term treatment, more therapy for past traumas.
“We weren’t looking at that. We weren’t looking at those issues,” she said.
“What we’ve found over the years is we don’t fix people. We give them tools and resources and the ability to help themselves.”
In 2023, Carmichael talked with LPM News about the county’s work to start a mental health wellness court.
She’s also done work with Veterans Court of Southern Indiana — the first veterans court in the state — which was started more than a decade ago by Floyd County Superior 3 Judge Maria Granger.
Impact
Carmichael said some of the most fulfilling work has been in helping juveniles and children and mentoring other judges and attorneys. She also appreciates when she hears from people who say she helped improve their lives.
When she does, she tells them “You did it,’” she said. “‘I maybe gave you the tools but you did it.’ That’s rewarding when people thank me for doing my job.”
She said she hopes she’s made an impact in the area, and the state.
“I think my interest in helping people — in solving the problem rather than just putting a Band-Aid aid on it — has made a difference in how we do things,” she said. “And so I think I've made a difference. I certainly hope so.”
She also talked about some of the cases that stand out to her. She presided over the extensive murder trial of Joseph Oberhansley, who was ultimately convicted of killing his former girlfriend six years prior.
In another case, Brian Williams pleaded guilty in 2023 to the 2021 killing of 67-year-old Melody Gambetty at her Clarksville home.
At the bench, she said it’s always been important to treat people with respect, regardless of why they’re coming before her.
“You treat people fairly. This is their day in court, and for them, it's the most important day,” she said.
What’s next?
At a retirement party in December, colleagues and friends gathered for a send-off for the judge. There was a large cake with her photo and the words “What’s next?”
But Carmichael won’t be going far, and wants to keep giving back to her community. Though she won’t be behind the bench in Clark County, she’ll be working part time in the Clark County Public Defender’s office. Fitting, she said, to return to the spot she started.
She’ll be a senior judge in Floyd and Scott counties.
She also has her eyes on the mayor’s seat in Jeffersonville in 2027. Republican Mayor Mike Moore was just elected to a fourth term after running unopposed in November.
“I’m not done giving back,” Carmichael said. “I grew up here and I think that Jeffersonville is a wonderful place [and] we have so many opportunities to make it better.”
She said although she thinks Moore has done a great job, “I think that I could present a different vision for the future of Jeffersonville.”
Coverage of Southern Indiana is funded, in part, by Samtec Inc., the Hazel & Walter T. Bales Foundation, and the Caesars Foundation of Floyd County.
