{{Ryan David Hatfield (born June 8, 1986) is an American attorney and politician who has served as a Vanderburgh County Circuit Court judge since 2025.{{Cite web , last=Shrake , first=Alexa , last2= , first2= , title=Across Indiana, only two incumbent county judges lost reelection bids , url=https://www.insideindianabusiness.com/articles/across-indiana-only-two-incumbent-county-judges-lost-reelection-bids , access-date=2025-01-03 , website=Inside INdiana Business , language=en-US He previously served as the

State Representative A state legislature is a legislative branch or body of a political subdivision in a federal system. Two federations literally use the term "state legislature": * The legislative branches of each of the fifty state governments of the United St ...

for Indiana House District 77. Outside of state politics, Hatfield worked in private practice working at Hatfield Law Office, LLC in

Evansville, Indiana Evansville is a city in Vanderburgh County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 118,414 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is Indiana's List of cities in Indiana, third-most populous city after India ...

. He also worked as an adjunct faculty member at

Ivy Tech Community College Ivy Tech Community College (Ivy Tech) is a public community college system in the U.S. state of Indiana. It is the state's public community college system and it has more than 40 locations. It is also the state's largest public postsecondary ins ...

and as an instructor at the Southwest Indiana Law Enforcement Academy.

Early life and education

Born to Julie Whitehead Hatfield and David Hatfield, Ryan Hatfield was raised in

. Hatfield graduated with Honors from William Henry Harrison High School and earned a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

from

Purdue University Purdue University is a Public university#United States, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded ...

. He also studied at

Tsinghua University Tsinghua University (THU) is a public university in Haidian, Beijing, China. It is affiliated with and funded by the Ministry of Education of China. The university is part of Project 211, Project 985, and the Double First-Class Constructio ...

Beijing, China Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

, and earned a Certificate in Entrepreneurship and Innovation from

Purdue Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donat ...

’s

Krannert School of Management The Purdue University Daniels School of Business (formerly known as Krannert School of Management) is the school of business at Purdue University, a Public university, public research university in West Lafayette, Indiana. It offers instruction ...

. Hatfield earned his

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

from

Southern Illinois University School of Law Southern Illinois University Simmons Law School (SIU Law) is one of four public law schools in the U.S. state of Illinois. Located in Carbondale, Illinois, it is the only law school in the southern region of Illinois. History The Southern Illino ...

. While a student, Hatfield became active in both legal and political work interning for the

United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana The United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana (in case citations, S.D. Ind.) is a federal district court in Indiana. It was created in 1928 by an act of Congress that split Indiana into two separate districts, northern a ...

, U.S. Congressman

Joe Donnelly Joseph Simon Donnelly Sr. (born September 29, 1955) is an American attorney, politician, and diplomat who served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2007 to 2013 and as a United States Senate, U.S. Senator from 2013 to 2019. A member of t ...

of Indiana, and U.S. Congressman and

House Minority Whip Party leaders of the United States House of Representatives, also known as floor leaders, are congresspeople who coordinate legislative initiatives and serve as the chief spokespersons for their parties on the House floor. These leaders are el ...

Steny Hoyer Steny Hamilton Hoyer ( ; born June 14, 1939) is an American politician and retired attorney who has served as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for since 1981. He also served as House Majority Leader from 2007 to 20 ...

of Maryland.

Vanderburgh County Deputy Prosecutor

Hatfield served as the

Vanderburgh County Vanderburgh County is a county in the U.S. state of Indiana. As of 2020, the population was 180,136. The county seat is in Evansville. While Vanderburgh County was the eighth-largest county in 2020 population in Indiana, it is also the eighth-s ...

Deputy Prosecutor from 2013-2016. As a Deputy Prosecutor, Hatfield prosecuted crimes of violence, including homicide, sexual assault, and drug trafficking. He also worked as the Deputy Prosecutor of the Vanderburgh Co. Drug Treatment Court, Veterans Treatment Court, and Juvenile Drug Treatment Court with the goal of successful rehabilitation, recovery, and sober living. During his tenure, Hatfield prosecuted hundreds of felony cases and was awarded for his work obtaining successful jury verdicts on behalf of victims and their families. He was also the first prosecutor in

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

to successfully secure a jury conviction in a case alleging

Munchausen Syndrome by proxy Factitious disorder imposed on another (FDIA), also known as fabricated or induced illness by carers (FII), medical child abuse and originally named Munchausen syndrome by proxy (MSbP) after Munchausen syndrome, is a mental health disorder in ...

Indiana House of Representatives

In 2016, Hatfield defeated Republican Johnny Kincaid after receiving 59% of the votes. He replaced

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

Gail Riecken who did not seek re-election. Hatfield has championed the causes promised in his campaign announcement as he focuses on protecting the most vulnerable Hoosiers, revitalizing public education, and fighting for fairness and prosperity for working families. While at the Statehouse, Hatfield has authored and co-authored legislation enacted into law improving the areas of justice, law, judiciary, criminal code, victim rights, health care, utilities, telecommunications, environment, etc. Hatfield serves in leadership in the

Indiana House of Representatives The Indiana House of Representatives is the lower house of the Indiana General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Indiana. The House is composed of 100 members representing an equal number of constituent districts. House mem ...

as Assistant Democratic Whip. He currently sits on four standing House committees, and serves as the Ranking Democratic Member on two of them: Ranking Democrat of the Indiana House Judiciary Committee; Ranking Democrat of the Indiana House Employment, Labor and Pensions Committee; Standing Member of the Indiana House Public Health Committee and Standing Member of the Indiana House Utilities, Energy and Telecommunications Committee. During his legislative tenure, Hatfield has also served as Ranking Democrat of the Committee o
Elections and Apportionment
and as a Standing Member of the Committee on Courts and Criminal Code.

Vanderburgh County Circuit Court

Hatfield won election to the Vanderburgh County Circuit Court in 2024. He was sworn in on January 2, 2025.

Professional Recognitions

Humane Society of the United States Humane World for Animals, formerly the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and Humane Society International (HSI), is a global nonprofit organization that focuses on animal welfare and opposes animal-related cruelties of national scop ...

Humane Legislator of the Year Award (2020)
American Academy of Attorneys
Top 40 Under 40 (2019) * Indiana Farm Bureau Emerging Leader Award (2018) * Indiana Trial Lawyers Association Legislator of the Year (2018) * Lawyers of Distinction - Civil Litigation Excellence (2018) (2019) * National Trial Lawyers Top 40 Under 40 – Civil Plaintiff Lawyer (2017) * Top 10% of Lawyers in the United States by Lawyers of Distinction (2017) * Rue’s Ratings’ Best Attorneys of America (2016) * Admitted to the

Bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar ** Chocolate bar * Protein bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a laye ...

in the State of Indiana (2013); U.S. District Court, Southern District of Indiana (2013); U.S. District Court, Northern District of Indiana (2013)

Elections

2016

In December 2015, Ryan Hatfield announced he would seek the

Indiana State Representative The Indiana House of Representatives is the lower house of the Indiana General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Indiana. The House is composed of 100 members representing an equal number of constituent districts. House member ...

seat being vacated by

Gail Riecken setting up a contentionus three person

primary Primary or primaries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Primary (band), from Australia * Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea * Primary Music, Israeli record label Work ...

. On May 3, 2016, Ryan Hatfield defeated Lori Sherman and Brandon Ferguson in the Democratic primary. Hatfield went on to face popular local radio personality and pastor Johnny Kincaid. On November 8, 2016, Hatfield defeated Kincaid in the general election with 59% of the vote to Kincaid’s 40%.

2018

Hatfield ran unopposed in both the

and

general election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...

2020

Hatfield ran unopposed for the Democratic

. In the

, he was challenged by Republican nominee and local military veteran Gregory Peete. Hatfield won reelection to a third term, defeating Peete 63%–36%.

2022

Hatfield won the 2022 election.

2024

Hatfield defeated Molly Briles in the 2024 election for Vanderburgh County Circuit Court judge.{{Cite web , last=Harwood , first=Houston , title=Ryan Hatfield wins race to become new Vanderburgh Circuit Court judge , url=https://www.courierpress.com/story/news/politics/elections/2024/11/05/vanderburgh-county-circuit-court-judge-results-for-2024/75916510007/ , access-date=2025-01-03 , website=Courier & Press , language=en-US

Personal life

Hatfield resides in

, with his wife Kendra Hatfield. Together, they have two daughters, Olivia and Rose. Kendra is a pediatric nurse at St. Vincent’s Evansville. The Hatfields are

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

and are active on local boards and committees, particularly for the protection and care of children.

References

{{Indiana House of Representatives {{Authority control {{DEFAULTSORT:Hatfield, Ryan 1986 births Living people Democratic Party members of the Indiana House of Representatives 21st-century members of the Indiana General Assembly