Jo Deen Lowe Sworn In as Chief Judge
(Written by Marlon WhiteEagle – Staff Writer)
On January 9, 2012, Jo Deen Lowe was sworn in as the Chief Judge of the Ho-Chunk Nation Trial Court at the Tribal Office Building in Black River Falls, Wisconsin. This makes her the Ho-Chunk Nation’s first female Chief Judge and the fourth Chief Judge in the court’s history.
Lowe is filling the seat of former Chief Judge Todd Matha, who resigned from his position on April 30, 2011. Matha was elected to the Ho-Chunk Nation Supreme Court in July 2011. Since the court inception, in 1995, others appointed to the Chief Judge position are Mark Butterfield and William Bossman. Associate Judge Amanda Rockman served as the court’s first “Interim” Chief Judge from May 2011 to January 2012.
The Ho-Chunk Nation Constitution “grants the Legislature the power to appoint the Chief Judge and any Associate Judges of the Trial Court.” The Ho-Chunk Nation’s Judicial Act reads: If the Legislature fails to fill any vacancy on the Trial Court within ninety (90) days of its occurrence, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court shall have the authority and the duty to appoint a qualified person to fill the vacancy. The Chief Judge position was in the Ho-Chunk Nation Job posting from May 2011 into January 2012.
Chief Judge Jo Deen Lowe is the daughter of Chloris Lowe Sr. and Anita Lowe, the granddaughter of the late Martin and Mable (Davis) Lowe of the Indian Mission, and the late Will and Bessie (White) Nemitz of Alma Center. Her Ho-Chunk name is Ahugiparawinga. She graduated from New Lisbon High School, Winona State University (B.S. Paralegal Studies in 1981), and University of Wisconsin Law School (1985).
Her biography read: She has served the Ho-Chunk Nation as a staff attorney, having worked with the Constitutional revision and gaming litigation support, then subsequently served as the Nation’s first Attorney General. Additionally she has previously been elected to the Nation’s Supreme Court as an Associate Justice. Her legal career has also taken her to the Menominee tribe where she served as a tribal prosecutor, to the Oneida Tribe of Wisconsin where she worked on transactional business matters, membership and housing issues and served as legal counsel to that Nation’s investment board. She has also work for Wisconsin Judicare’s Indian Law unit representing tribes and tribal interests in the days prior to the advent of gaming in Wisconsin, and played a role in assisting with the training of lay advocates for tribal courts. Jo Deen is a former District Attorney for Jackson County appointed by the Governor of Wisconsin. Most recently she served as the Deputy Attorney General for the Forest County Potawatomi Community where she secured a tribal courts development grant to fully fund a prosecutor position for three years to allow for a consistent in-house legal advisor for the Indian Child Welfare and Child Support offices.
Ms. Low has served the State Bar Board of Governors for many years and was a member of its Access to Justice Committee, which secured funding from the State to expand the access of lower-income residents to legal counsel.
She lives near Tomah, Wisconsin. She has two brothers, Chloris Jr. of New Lisbon, Wisconsin and William (Rebecca) of Reedsburg, Wisconsin and she enjoys gardening, golf, and spending time with her family.
Lance Long, Buffalo clan member, served as the emcee for the Oath of Office Ceremony. Andrew Blackhawk American Legion Post 129 presented the colors, as the Ho-Chunk Nation singers rendered a welcome and Ho-Chunk flag song. Chloris Lowe Sr. gave an invocation prayer. President Greendeer gave the opening remarks and congratulated Lowe. As he read her biography, he said, “She enjoys gardening, golf, and spending time with family. And I hope she likes spending time at work.”
Supreme Court Chief Justice Mary Jo B. Hunter administered the oath of office. The Chief Justice had a slip of the tongue when she asked Lowe to “raise your right hard.” Chief Judge Lowe gave remarks; she said she looks forward “to working with old friends, working for her people, and being close to family.”