State Rep. Carey Hamilton

State Representative Carey Hamilton was first elected to the Indiana House of Representatives in 2016 to represent Indiana House District 87. She serves as the Democratic Caucus Chair in the Indiana House of Representatives.

Hamilton is a member of the Utilities, Energy and Telecommunications and Roads and Transportation committees. She is also a member of the Statutory Committee on Ethics and is founder and co-chair of the bipartisan Indiana Legislative Trails Caucus. 

Carey Hamilton has worked in the environmental field for nearly three decades. During that time, she has worked in the public, private and non-profit sectors on a range of environmental issues, most recently serving as an executive in the climate tech sector.  

Prior to that, Hamilton was the executive director of the Indiana Recycling Coalition (IRC) for nine years. Under her leadership, the IRC won two national awards - recognizing the IRC as the best of state organizations across the country.

Prior to serving in this role, Hamilton owned an environmental consulting firm. Earlier in her career, she served as a program manager for the Indiana Department of Environmental Management and as the first leader of Indiana’s Greening the Government Program.

In 2020, Hamilton launched the bi-partisan, bi-cameral Indiana Legislative Trails Caucus.  The Trails Caucus has successfully worked to secure $90 for trails across the state during the last two budget cycles.  These investments represent the first ever legislative designation of funds towards trails infrastructure.  

In 2022, Hamilton received the Rails to Trails Conservancy's national Rail Trail Champion Award and in 2021, Hamilton received the Indiana Greenways Award for Outstanding Public Official, honoring her work in the General Assembly to advance trail access for all Hoosiers. That same year, she also received the Indiana Wildlife Federation's Conservation Champion Award. Hamilton earned the 2020 Civility in Government Award from the Association of Retired Members of the Indiana General Assembly and in 2019 was named Legislator of the Year by the Indiana Friends Committee on Legislation for supporting key proposals regarding health, the environment and restorative justice during the 2019 General Assembly session.

Additionally, Hamilton serves on the Hoosier Women Forward Board of Directors and recently completed two terms on the Washington Township Schools Foundation Board.  She co-led environmental programs for the 2012 Indianapolis Super Bowl Host Committee, and is a former board member of both Keep America Beautiful and the National Recycling Coalition. She is a 2011 graduate of the Stanley K. Lacy Executive Leadership Program, a 2013 graduate of the Institute for Conservation Leadership’s Executive Leadership Program, and was named one of the Indianapolis Business Journal’s “Forty under 40” up-and-coming leaders.

Hamilton is a graduate of Pike High School in Indianapolis and has a bachelor’s degree from Indiana University-Bloomington. She is married to Derek and has two children.