Karen Freeman-Wilson Biography
Karen Freeman-Wilson is an American attorney, former judge, former Indiana Attorney General, and current Mayor of Gary, Indiana. In May 2011, he won the Democratic mayoral primary for the city of Gary. She had previously run in both 2003 and 2007, losing to Scott L. King and Rudy Clay respectively. Given the political nature of Gary, she was considered a heavy favorite in the general election.
Karen Freeman-Wilson Age
Karen Freeman-Wilson was born on October 24, 1960, in Gary, Indiana United States. She is 58 years old as of 2019.
Karen Freeman-Wilson Education
Karen Freeman-Wilson graduated from Harvard University, and from there she joined Harvard Law School.
Karen Freeman-Wilson Wife
Karen Freeman-Wilson married Carmen Wilson. The couples were blessed with a daughter known as Jordan Freeman-Wilson.
Karen Freeman-Wilson Municipal Judge and Attorney General
Karen Freeman-Wilson served as judge of the Gary City Court from 1995 to 2000. In 2000, she was appointed Indiana Attorney General by Governor Frank O’Bannon to serve the remaining eleven months of the term of Jeff Modisett, who resigned to become Deputy CEO and General Counsel to the Democratic National Convention.
As the incumbent, Freeman-Wilson ran for Indiana Attorney General in 2000 but lost to Republican Steve Carter.
State auditors later found that the former Attorney General Freeman-Wilson issued more than $700,000 in grants without approval from the Governor and various agencies during her eleven months in office.
The Indiana State Board of Accounts discovered this when it filed the annual audit of this office in 2001.
The State Board found that Freeman-Wilson issued grants from the $1.39 million payment Indiana received for work on the national tobacco settlement.
She had $500,000 grant to the Indiana Minority Health Coalition was also issued without approval from the Governor and agencies under his control. Freeman-Wilson acknowledged, “mistakes were made.”
She stated to the Indianapolis Star, “I’m not going to criticize Mr. Carter and I don’t think he should criticize me.” Attorney General Carter responded, “We can only clean up the office from this point forward.”
After leaving office, Freeman-Wilson went on to become CEO of the nonprofit National Association of Drug Court Professionals. While there she helped get a trial of Prometa, treatment for methamphetamine addiction, launched in the Gary drug court.
In July 2007, Hythiam Inc., the company licensing the Prometa protocol, named Freeman-Wilson to its board of directors. Other executive posts held by Freeman-Wilson include Executive Director of the National Drug Court Institute and director of the Indiana Civil Rights Commission.
Legal Counsel: Gary Urban Enterprise Association Freeman-Wilson served as legal counsel to the Gary Urban Enterprise Association from 1995 to 2006. Freeman-Wilson has also demonstrated public service and leadership in state government.
During her tenure as Indiana Attorney General, Freeman-Wilson fought passionately on behalf of youth, seniors and abused nursing home patients. She was one of the first Attorneys General in the country to combat gas price gouging and to ensure that tobacco settlement dollars were directed towards smoking cessation and health care.
While she was the Executive Director of the Indiana Civil Rights Commission, Indiana was one of the first states to pass legislation comparable to the American with Disabilities Act.
Karen Freeman-Wilson Net worth
Karen Freeman-Wilson is an American attorney, former judge, former Indiana Attorney General, and current Mayor of Gary, Indiana who has an estimated net worth of $ 10 million dollars as of 2019.
Karen Freeman-Wilson Mayor of Gary
In April 2011, Rudy Clay announced he was ending his re-election campaign due to prostate cancer, endorsing Karen Freeman-Wilson as his successor. Rudy Clay asked his supporters to vote for Freeman-Wilson.
In May 2011, Freeman-Wilson won the Democratic mayoral primary for the city of Gary. She had previously run in both 2003 and 2007, losing to Scott L. King and Rudy Clay respectively.
Given the political nature of Gary, she was considered a heavy favorite in the general election. She won the election with a landslide 87 percent of the vote. She became the city’s first female mayor.
Freeman-Wilson and her “New Day” Transition Team developed a Blueprint for Gary, promising to improve public safety, economic development, and the city’s appearance and image. She has refused to allow a museum in the childhood home of Michael Jackson.
Freeman-Wilson appeared during her tenure as mayor in a December 21, 2016 episode of Undercover Boss, in which she was disguised as a long-haired woman from Nashville, Tennessee with a Southern accent.
The episode highlighted wage and infrastructure challenges related to Gary’s tight budget and allowed the mayor to evaluate ways to improve working conditions.
Unlike other episodes, in which bosses tend to provide gifts with the organization’s money, she relied on private donations, a personal donation, and strategic budgeting to provide gifts and investments.
Freeman-Wilson was denied a third term in the May 7th, 2019 mayoral primary, when she lost to Lake County Assessor, Jerome Prince. Since there is no Republican contender in November 5th general election, Prince will succeed her as the new mayor in December.
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Judge and Attorney General
She served as a presiding judge of the Gary City Court from 1995 to 2000. In 2000, she was appointed Indiana Attorney General by Governor Frank O’Bannon to serve the remaining eleven months of the term of Jeff Modisett, who resigned to become Deputy CEO and General Counsel to the Democratic National Convention.
After leaving office, Freeman-Wilson went on to become CEO of the nonprofit National Association of Drug Court Professionals. While there she helped get a trial of Prometa, treatment for methamphetamine addiction, launched in the Gary drug court.
On July 2007, Hythiam Inc., the company licensing the Prometa protocol, named Freeman-Wilson to its board of directors. She also served as the Executive Director of the National Drug Court Institute.
In April 2011, Rudy Clay announced he was ending his re-election campaign due to prostate cancer, endorsing Karen Freeman-Wilson as his successor. Rudy Clay asked his supporters to vote for Freeman-Wilson.
In May 2011, Freeman-Wilson won the Democratic mayoral primary for the city of Gary. She had previously run in both 2003 and 2007, losing to Scott L. King and Rudy Clay respectively. Given the political nature of Gary, she was considered a heavy favorite in the general election.
She won the election with a landslide 87 percent of the vote. She became the city’s first female mayor. Freeman-Wilson and her “New Day” Transition Team developed a Blueprint for Gary.
Under her axiom, “Karen for Gary,” promises were made to improve public safety, economic development, and the city’s appearance and image. She has refused to allow a museum in the childhood home of Michael Jackson.
In November 2011, the citizens of Gary, Indiana chose a new day for the city by electing Karen Freeman- Wilson, Mayor. On December 31, 2011, Freeman-Wilson became the first woman to lead the steel city and the first African-American female mayor in the State of Indiana.
Often comparing herself to “Dorothy from Oz,” Freeman-Wilson has been asked to render counsel on various matters throughout the United States and other parts of the world, but she often quips that “there is no place like home.”
Along with her husband Carmen Wilson and their daughter Jordan, Freeman-Wilson resides in her native city of Gary, Indiana. She was valedictorian of her graduating class at Gary’s storied Roosevelt High School and went on to become an honors graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School.
Despite her breadth of travel and influence throughout the United States, Freeman-Wilson’s loyalty and commitment to her home city have never wavered. Indeed, her passion for Gary, coupled with her experience and training, have positioned her for leadership and prepared her to tackle the major challenges facing the city.
She is the immediate past CEO of The National Association of Drug Court Professionals and Executive Director of The National Drug Court Institute based in Washington, D.C. With Freeman-Wilson at the helm, the number of drug courts in the U.S. doubled to 1700 and NADCP became the premier organizational advocate for drug treatment in the judicial arena.