September 6, 2008

The town court judge in Yorktown doesn't taker her job lightly

By JOHN CARLSON
jcarlson@muncie.gannett.com

Pat Zeabart remembers well the day that, having encountered Kaye Whitehead downtown, the GOP county chairman asked her to recommend a candidate to run for Yorktown Town Court judge.

By the way, Whitehead told the longtime dietitian and civic activist, a law degree was not a prerequisite."And I thought, really?" Zeabart recalled, of her surprised reaction.As she spoke, she was seated at a table overlooking her verdant back yard, an expansive lawn sweeping down to the White River. But a few days later, black-robed and confident, she was in what is now an equally familiar setting, mounting the judge's bench in the town's municipal building and bringing the court to order.

Obviously, Zeabart decided that she could handle the judge's job, which she assumed in 2004, and is now in her second four-year term.

"I just felt like this is maybe where I'm being called to serve," said the mother of two grown daughters, whose husband of 32 years, Leonard, is a gastroenterologist with Medical Consultants.

A 56-year-old Michigan native whose father was a Navy captain and whose mother served in the Navy's WAVES, Zeabart grew up with a well-defined sense of right and wrong, one that has stood her in good stead as a judge.

"I care a lot about fairness, and integrity, and being part of a judicial system with a court that's well run," she said, contemplatively, between sips of sweet tea. "We've been able to accomplish a lot with the court."

Improvements have included electronically interfacing all its records with the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles, and microfilming all the old court records to meet a state-mandated schedule.

"It's really important to me that we comply with the state policies and procedures," Zeabart said.

However, the human side of the court operation -- which deals with about 8,500 infractions and criminal misdemeanors a year -- is a priority to her, with defendants treated respectfully, efficiently and fairly.

"And I'm not showing any favoritism," she said.

Is that difficult, considering she is presiding over court in a town in which her personal interactions and connections abound?

No, she answered. That's just the way it is, and the people she confronts know that.

Charges she commonly deals with include check deception, fishing without a license, minor consumption of alcohol and driving while suspended prior, meaning it's a repeat offense.

"People generally get jail time suspended," she noted of the jailable offenses, but repeat offenders can end up ordered behind bars.

Tough situations

Zeabart also expressed particular sympathy for the commercial driver's license holders she encounters, folks for whom operating standards are high, and offenses can mean a loss of livelihood.

"And that's tough," she said, somberly.

Still, those situations notwithstanding, she truly enjoys this job.

For Zeabart, it comes after a long history of other work. A Michigan State University graduate, the registered dietitian also holds a master's degree in nutrition from Ball State University and completed a dietetic internship at Chicago's Hines Veterans Administration Hospital.

Her résumé also includes working as a clinical dietitian at Tampa's VA hospital, where she met Leonard, employment as a nutrition consultant to Westminster Village, working as a WIC program nutritionist, plus starting the nutrition program at Open Door/BMH Health Clinic, where she worked from 1988 to 2002.

Particularly fond of community clinic settings, Zeabart also taught from 1993 to 2005 as an instructor in BSU's department of family and consumer science.

Fans of travel, she and her husband recently spent two weeks in China, but they are unreserved supporters of this area, with no desire to live anywhere else.

"It's been a good life here," she said, noting the many challenges, but also countless opportunities to serve.

"We can figure out tons of solutions to whatever challenges our community faces," said the judge, who is a new board member of United Way of Delaware County and the facilities chairman for the Muncie YMCA's Camp Crosley. "I don't mind stepping up and saying I'll be the president, I'll be the leader."

A willing volunteer

Indeed, even a casual rundown of her current and former volunteer activities makes a fellow's hand cramp from taking notes.

She served on the Yorktown School board from 1992 to 1996, was founding president of the Muncie Children's Museum Guild, and president of the Hospital Auxiliary. She was president of the Bargain Box and state president of the Indiana Dietetic Association, a board member of Beyond I Can, the Hospital Foundation, and has headed the board of the Muncie Symphony Orchestra.

A Master Gardener, she is also a member of First Presbyterian Church's Wednesday Weekly Weeders, through which she indulges another passion.

"I love to garden," she said, standing amidst the riotous colors of hydrangeas, black-eyed Susans and Rose of Sharon blooming lushly outside her home.

And there's much more.

Still, her work as a judge comes first.

"I think it's been really great to have this community trust me enough to be in this position," Zeabart said, with fervor. "I don't take that lightly."