LaPorte Bancorp, Inc.
                               710 Indiana Avenue
                             LaPorte, Indiana 46350


August 8, 2007

VIA FACSIMILE AND EDGAR
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(202) 772-9208

Securities and Exchange Commission
100 F Street, N.E.
Washington, D.C. 20549

      Re:    LaPorte Bancorp, Inc.
             Registration Statement on Form S-1 (Registration Number 333-143526)
             Request for Acceleration of Effectiveness
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Ladies and Gentlemen:

     LaPorte Bancorp,  Inc. (the "Company"),  hereby requests that the Company's
Registration  Statement on Form S-1 be declared  effective on August 13, 2007 at
2:00 p.m., or as soon thereafter as is practicable.

         The Company hereby acknowledges that:

o                 should  the  Commission  or  the  staff,  acting  pursuant  to
                  delegated authority, declare the filing effective, it does not
                  foreclose the  Commission  from taking any action with respect
                  to the filing;

o                 the action of the Commission or the staff,  acting pursuant to
                  delegated authority,  in declaring the filing effective,  does
                  not relieve the Company from its full  responsibility  for the
                  adequacy and accuracy of the disclosure in the filing; and

o                 the  Company  may not assert  this  action as a defense in any
                  proceeding initiated by the Commission or any person under the
                  federal securities laws of the United States.


                                          Very truly yours,

                                          /s/ Lee A. Brady
                                          -------------------
                                          Lee A. Brady
                                          President and Chief Executive Officer