January 13, 2011
News Release
INDIANAPOLIS — Governor Mitch Daniels has appointed Kari Evans Bennett to the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission (IURC).
“The nominating committee presented me with a full slate of qualified candidates and I believe that Kari’s vast regulatory experience and legal background make her the best prepared of an excellent group,†said Daniels.
When a vacancy occurs on the IURC, applications are solicited from the public and accepted by a seven member nominating committee. The committee, comprising four legislative and three gubernatorial appointments, screens the applications and conducts interviews that are open to the public. After conducting the public interviews, the nominating committee recommends three candidates to the governor who then names a new member to the commission.
Members of the nominating committee are committee chair William Stephan, Jennifer Messer, Greg Gibson, Mark Pope, Susan Sandberg, Larry Buell and June Lyle.
Although she has never appeared before the IURC, Bennett has practiced environmental law for 12 years, both regulating industry and representing business and municipal interests before environmental regulators. Bennett is an Indianapolis attorney currently serving as chief legal counsel for the Indiana Department of Natural Resources (DNR). Prior to her service with DNR, she was an attorney in the Indiana Department of Environmental Management and a policy director in the governor’s office. Additionally, she practiced law with Barnes & Thornburg LLP. Bennett earned her bachelor’s degree from Miami University, Ohio and her law degree from the University of Minnesota Law School.
Bennett replaces former chairman David Lott Hardy and will serve the remainder of a four-year term that ends on March 31, 2014. Her appointment is effective immediately.
Source: Office of the Governor
