Today the Vanderburgh County Magistrate Judge J. August officially announces that he is a candidate for the Vanderburgh County Superior Court Judge.
Magistrate Judge J. August J. Straus told the City County-Observer that “Judgeship is a position that he has chosen as his long-term goal. As a lifelong resident of Vanderburgh County, he attended St. Boniface school on the west side of Evansville. I have been blessed in my career, including serving as a Vanderburgh Superior Court Magistrate, in hopes to serve the citizens of Vanderburgh County as a Superior Court Judge one day.”
Other than his time away at college and law school, he has resided on the West Side of Evansville. He spent the last 8 years as a single father to his beautiful daughter, Shayleigh, age 12.
Magistrate Judge J. August Straus attended Westside Catholic Consolidated Schools (Sacred Heart/St. Agnes/St. Boniface) and graduated from Mater Dei High School. After high school, he briefly attended Hanover College before transferring to Arizona State University where he earned his Bachelor’s Degree with the highest honors.  He attended the University of Memphis because of the cultural diversity of the school and the city. Shortly after receiving his Juris Doctor, he returned home due to the declining health of his father (who later passed in 2001) to be of assistance to both my mother and my sibling.
Upon his return to Evansville, he was hired at Fine & Hatfield. They allowed him to begin working for the Vanderburgh County Prosecutors Office in order to sharpen his trial skills. He spent approximately one year at the Prosecutors Office, then returned to Fine & Hatfield with more experience in the courtroom and a better understanding of the criminal area of the law to grow his; practice.
Magistrate Judge J. August told the CCO “that his career took a turn for the best when he was was hired by Johnson Carroll Griffith & D’Amour. Upon accepting this position, he said “that he was mentored by some of the finest and most respected attorneys in the State of Indiana in all areas of law?. He also said “he had the opportunity to learn Estate and Corporate law from Brian Carroll; Personal Injury, Probate, Mediation & Family law from Edward Johnson; Family and Criminal law from (former law partner) Superior Court Judge Richard D’Amour; and Workers Compensation, Social Security Disability and Jury trial practice from the late Charlie Griffith. With this opportunity, he was able to grow his own General Practice in multiple areas of the law and become a well-rounded attorney”?
Along with his practice, he became very involved with the Evansville Bar Association and held numerous positions over the years, as demonstrated on his extensive resume. In addition, he became involved in Judges’ campaigns in Vanderburgh County, working on Judge Lloyd’s, Neumeier’s and Bower’s re-election campaigns and Judge D’Amour and Kiely’s campaigns.
In 2012, Magistrate Judge’s Straus legal career took another remarkable turn when he was appointed to the bench as a Magistrate Judge by the seven Vanderburgh Superior Court Judges. During the past 8 years, he regularly handled Criminal Misdemeanor, Protective Orders, Small Claims and General Civil cases and of course Family law cases, including but not limited to Divorce, Post-Divorce, Paternities, Adoptions, and Guardianships. In addition, for a 2 year period, he worked directly with Judge Trockman in Treatment Court and his Level 5/6 Felony Court and Judge Pigman in his Felony Court. He also handled all aspects of those courts, including but not limited to Arraignments, Initial Hearings, Progress Hearings, Sentences, Jury Trials, and Treatment Court team meetings and court sessions.
Finally, Magistrate Judge August J. Straus told the City-County Observer after 20 years in practice, he feels that he’s perfectly suited to fill the position of Superior Court Judge being vacated by Judge Tornatta.
FOOTNOTE: The Vanderburgh Superior Court’s are set up in such a way that two of the Judges (Trockman and Pigman) handle Criminal matters, one judge is assigned all Probate, CHINS, Delinquency, Guardianships, and Adoptions (Niemeier) and the remaining four Judges handle all Family Law (Divorces and Paternities) and Civil Law. Judge Tornatta’s position is one of these four Judges.
