Judges appointed by Jerry Brown

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Judicial Appointments

Governor Jerry Brown

Other Governors

This page lists judges appointed by Jerry Brown (D) during his term as Governor of California. As of today, the total number of Brown appointees was 541. For the full profile of Brown, click here.

Ballotpedia provides comprehensive coverage of the 100 largest cities in America by population. Some California judges are outside of that coverage scope. As a result, this page does not provide an exhaustive list of all judges appointed by Gov. Brown.

Appointment process

In California, vacancies are filled via gubernatorial appointment. Nominees to the supreme court and courts of appeal must be confirmed by the California Commission on Judicial Appointments. Appointed appellate judges stand for retention in the gubernatorial election following appointment; judges of the superior courts run for the seat in the next general election.

Appointed judges

The tables below list the governor's appointees to the courts across the state.

State Courts

Supreme Court

Name	Court	Active
Goodwin Liu	California Supreme Court	September 1, 2011 - Present
Leondra Kruger	California Supreme Court	2015 - Present
Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar	California Supreme Court	January 4, 2015 - October 31, 2021
Joshua Groban	California Supreme Court	December 21, 2018 - Present

Court of Appeals

Name	Court	Active
Gabriel Sanchez	California 1st District Court of Appeal Division 1	2018 - January 12, 2022
James M. Humes	California 1st District Court of Appeal Division 1	2014 - Present
Anthony Kline	California 1st District Court of Appeal Division 2	1982 - December 15, 2021
Marla J. Miller	California 1st District Court of Appeal Division 2	2014 - Present
Therese M. Stewart	California 1st District Court of Appeal Division 2	August 14, 2014 - Present
Carin Fujisaki	California 1st District Court of Appeal Division 3	2018 - Present
Ioana Petrou	California 1st District Court of Appeal Division 3	2018 - Present
Tracie L. Brown	California 1st District Court of Appeal Division 4	2018 - Present
Alison M. Tucher	California 1st District Court of Appeal Division 4	2018 - 2021
Stuart Pollak	California 1st District Court of Appeal Division 4	2018 - 2023
Jon B. Streeter	California 1st District Court of Appeal Division 4	2014 - Present
Barbara J.R. Jones	California 1st District Court of Appeal Division 5	1996 - 2020
Gordon Burns	California 1st District Court of Appeal Division 5	2018 - Present
Helen Bendix	California 2nd District Court of Appeal Division 1	2018 - Present
Brian M. Hoffstadt	California 2nd District Court of Appeal Division 2	August 28, 2014 - February 29, 2024
Elwood G. Lui	California 2nd District Court of Appeal Division 2	May 22, 2015 - Present
Joan Klein	California 2nd District Court of Appeal Division 3
Lee Edmon	California 2nd District Court of Appeal Division 3	August 8, 2014 - Present
Anne Harwood Egerton	California 2nd District Court of Appeal Division 3	2017 - Present
Luis A. Lavin	California 2nd District Court of Appeal Division 3	2015 - September 16, 2024
Halim Dhanidina	California 2nd District Court of Appeal Division 3	2018 - March 31, 2021
Brian S. Currey	California 2nd District Court of Appeal Division 4	December 21, 2018 - February 28, 2025
Audrey Collins	California 2nd District Court of Appeal Division 4	June 28, 2014 - Present
Lamar W. Baker	California 2nd District Court of Appeal Division 5	May 22, 2015 - Present
Laurence Rubin	California 2nd District Court of Appeal Division 5	December 21, 2018 - Unknown
Carl H. Moor	California 2nd District Court of Appeal Division 5	2018 - Present
Dorothy C. Kim	California 2nd District Court of Appeal Division 5	2018 - Present
Martin J. Tangeman	California 2nd District Court of Appeal Division 6	2016 - June 30, 2022
Arthur Gilbert	California 2nd District Court of Appeal Division 6	1983 - Present
Gail Ruderman Feuer	California 2nd District Court of Appeal Division 7	June 1, 2018 - Present
John Segal	California 2nd District Court of Appeal Division 7	2015 - Present
John Shepard Wiley Jr.	California 2nd District Court of Appeal Division 8	2018 - Present
Maria E. Stratton	California 2nd District Court of Appeal Division 8	2018 - Present
Peter Krause	California 3rd District Court of Appeal	2018 - Present
Cole Blease	California 3rd District Court of Appeal	June 14, 1979 - June 7, 2022
Jonathan Renner	California 3rd District Court of Appeal	August 28, 2014 - Present
Patricia Guerrero	California 4th District Court of Appeal Division 1	2017 - March 28, 2022
William S. Dato	California 4th District Court of Appeal Division 1	February 9, 2017 - Present
Michael J. Raphael	California 4th District Court of Appeal Division 2	2018 - Present
Marsha Slough	California 4th District Court of Appeal Division 2	February 22, 2016 - Present
Richard T. Fields	California 4th District Court of Appeal Division 2	February 9, 2017 - Present
Frank J. Menetrez	California 4th District Court of Appeal Division 2	2018 - Present
Thomas M. Goethals	California 4th District Court of Appeal Division 3	2018 - March 31, 2025
David A. Thompson	California 4th District Court of Appeal Division 3	June 28, 2012 - October 15, 2021
Thomas DeSantos	California 5th District Court of Appeal	2018 - Present
M. Bruce Smith	California 5th District Court of Appeal	2014 - Present
Mark Wood Snauffer	California 5th District Court of Appeal	2018 - Present
Rosendo Peña Jr.	California 5th District Court of Appeal	2012 - Present
Kathleen Meehan	California 5th District Court of Appeal	2017 - Present
Mary J. Greenwood	California 6th District Court of Appeal	2018 - Present
Allison M. Danner	California 6th District Court of Appeal	2018 - Present
Adrienne M. Grover	California 6th District Court of Appeal	2012 - Present
Miguel Márquez	California 6th District Court of Appeal	2012 - July 29, 2016

Local Courts

Name	Court	Active
Jason Chin	Superior Court of Alameda County	2018 - Present
Karin Schwartz	Superior Court of Alameda County	2019 - Present
Jenna Whitman	Superior Court of Alameda County	2018 - Present
Thomas E. Stevens	Superior Court of Alameda County	2014 - Present
Michael M. Markman	Superior Court of Alameda County	2013 - Present
Stephen Kaus	Superior Court of Alameda County	2012 - Present
Barbara Dickinson	Superior Court of Alameda County	2018 - Present
Gregory Syren	Superior Court of Alameda County	2012 - Present
Alison M. Tucher	Superior Court of Alameda County
Thomas Nixon	Superior Court of Alameda County	2015 - Present
Charles A. Smiley III	Superior Court of Alameda County	2012 - February 14, 2025
Kimberly E. Colwell	Superior Court of Alameda County	2013 - Present
Ursula Jones Dickson	Superior Court of Alameda County	2013 - February 4, 2025
Clifford Blakely	Superior Court of Alameda County	2019 - Present
Paul D. Herbert	Superior Court of Alameda County	2013 - 2024
Richard Seabolt	Superior Court of Alameda County	2018 - 2024
Eumi Lee	Superior Court of Alameda County	2018 - May 7, 2024
Mark A. McCannon	Superior Court of Alameda County	2013 - Present
Noël Wise	Superior Court of Alameda County	2014 - December 19, 2024
Arturo Castro	Superior Court of Alameda County	2016 - Present
Jeffrey Brand	Superior Court of Alameda County	2015 - Present
Delia Trevino	Superior Court of Alameda County	2015 - Present
Somnath Raj Chatterjee	Superior Court of Alameda County	2017 - Present
Jason Clay	Superior Court of Alameda County	2018 - Present
Lupe Garcia	Superior Court of Alameda County	2016 - Present
James Cramer	Superior Court of Alameda County	2015 - Present
Scott Patton	Superior Court of Alameda County	2012 - Present
Andrew Steckler	Superior Court of Alameda County	2015 - Present
Brad Seligman	Superior Court of Alameda County	2013 - Present
Amy Sekany	Superior Court of Alameda County	2018 - Present
James Reilly	Superior Court of Alameda County	2018 - Present
Renee Day	Superior Court of Amador County
Kimbery Merrifield	Superior Court of Butte County
Denny R. Forland	Superior Court of Butte County
Michael R. Deems	Superior Court of Butte County
Hugh K. Swift	Superior Court of Calaveras County
David Goldstein	Superior Court of Contra Costa County
Judy Johnson	Superior Court of Contra Costa County
Anita L. Santos	Superior Court of Contra Costa County
Benjamin Reyes II	Superior Court of Contra Costa County
Terri A. Mockler	Superior Court of Contra Costa County
John C. Cope	Superior Court of Contra Costa County
Wade Rhyne	Superior Court of Contra Costa County
Danielle K. Douglas	Superior Court of Contra Costa County
Chris Doehle	Superior Court of Del Norte County
Dylan Sullivan	Superior Court of El Dorado County
Mary Dolas	Superior Court of Fresno County	2015 - Present
Michael G. Idiart	Superior Court of Fresno County	2015 - Present
Heather Jones	Superior Court of Fresno County	January 4, 2019 - Present
Amy K. Guerra	Superior Court of Fresno County	2018 - Present
Monica Diaz	Superior Court of Fresno County	2017 - Present
Ana I. de Alba	Superior Court of Fresno County	2018 - June 21, 2022
Mark E. Cullers	Superior Court of Fresno County	2015 - Present
Francine Zepeda	Superior Court of Fresno County	2013 - Present
Gregory Elvine-Kreis	Superior Court of Humboldt County
Ruth Bermudez Montenegro	Superior Court of Imperial County
Christopher J. Plourd	Superior Court of Imperial County
Marco Nunez	Superior Court of Imperial County
Brian McNamara	Superior Court of Kern County	2013 - Present
David R. Zulfa	Superior Court of Kern County	2015 - Present
Gloria Cannon	Superior Court of Kern County	2017 - Present
Ralph W. Wyatt	Superior Court of Kern County	2014 - 2023
Therese Foley	Superior Court of Kern County	2018 - Present
Marcos R. Camacho	Superior Court of Kern County	2015 - Present
Greg Pulskamp	Superior Court of Kern County	2018 - Present
Michael J. Reinhart	Superior Court of Kings County
Teresa T. Sullivan	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2013 - Present
Joseph R. Porras	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2013 - Present
Kerry R. Bensinger	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2012 - Present
Lloyd C. Loomis	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2013 - 2018
Lori R. Behar	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2013 - Present
Marc D. Gross	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2013 - Present
Colin P. Leis	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2014 - Present
Danielle Gibbons	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2018 - Present
P. Tamu Usher	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2017 - Present
Frank J. Menetrez	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2015 - 2018
Laura Seigle	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2015 - Present
Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2015 - February 7, 2022
Lillian Vega Jacobs	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2015 - Present
Michelle Ahnn	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2015 - Present
Robert Harrison	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2017 - Present
Ronald F. Frank	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2015 - Present
Dorothy C. Kim	Superior Court of Los Angeles County
David J. Cowan	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2014 - Present
Kerry White	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2017 - Present
Amy Yerkey	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2017 - Present
Rupert A. Byrdsong	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2014 - Present
Songhai D. Miguda-Armstead	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2015 - September 25, 2020
Joel Wallenstein	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2014 - Present
Gregorio Roman	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2013 - Present
Frank M. Tavelman	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2014 - Present
Michael J. Shultz	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2013 - Present
Roberto Longoria	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2011 - Present
Julie Fox Blackshaw	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2013 - Present
Deborah S. Brazil	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2014 - Present
Armenui Ashvanian	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2018 - Present
Rupa S. Goswami	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2013 - Present
Danette Gomez	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2018 - Present
Holly Thomas	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2018 - January 20, 2022
Kimberley Baker Guillemet	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2018 - Present
Theresa McGonigle	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2018 - Present
Sergio C. Tapia	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2013 - Present
Timothy M. Weiner	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2018 - Present
Annabelle G. Cortez	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2012 - Present
William Crowfoot	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2018 - Present
Christopher Dybwad	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2018 - Present
Anne K. Richardson	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2018 - November 25, 2024
Emily Garcia Uhrig	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2018 - Present
Lisa Tamashiro Coen	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2018 - Present
Robert Serna	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2018 - Present
Jeffrey Cohen-Laurie	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2018 - Present
Mary Kelly	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2018 - Present
Virginia Keeny	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2012 - Present
Sarah Heidel	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2017 - Present
Alison M. Mackenzie	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2018 - Present
Ruben Garcia	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2017 - Present
Audra Mori	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2018 - April 17, 2023
Victor Viramontes	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2018 - November 30, 2022
Lawrence Riff	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2015 - Present
Dean Hansell	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2016 - Present
Michael E. Whitaker	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2014 - Present
Rob B. Villeza	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2014 - Present
Beverly L. Bourne	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2013 - March 2, 2023
Mark Hanasono	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2013 - July 2, 2025
Robert Chu	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2018 - Present
Thomas Long	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2015 - Present
Kevin Rosenberg	Superior Court of Los Angeles County
Halim Dhanidina	Superior Court of Los Angeles County
H. Jay Ford III	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2013 - Present
H. Clay Jacke	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2012 - Present
Michelle Williams Court	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2011 - November 7, 2024
Holly J. Fujie	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2012 - Present
Fernando Aenlle-Rocha	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2017 - 2020
Jeffrey K. Winikow	Superior Court of Los Angeles County
Michael J. Raphael	Superior Court of Los Angeles County
Michael Garcia	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2012 - Present
Ashfaq Chowdhury	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2018 - Present
Phillip J. Argento	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2000 - 2005
Nicole C. Bershon	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2013 - Present
Daniel Brenner	Superior Court of Los Angeles County
Patrick A. Cathcart	Superior Court of Los Angeles County
Peter A. Hernandez	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2012 - Present
Julian Recana	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2015 - Present
Robert S. Draper	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2012 - Present
Stephen Goorvitch	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2015 - Present
Maurice Leiter	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2015 - Present
Michael C. Small	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2015 - Present
Anthony A. Trendacosta	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2014 - Present
Brian S. Currey	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2014 - 2018
Neetu Badhan-Smith	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2017 - Present
Joseph Lipner	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2018 - Present
J. Christopher Smith	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2017 - Present
Scott Herin	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2018 - Present
Shirley K. Watkins	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2014 - Present
Veronica McBeth	Superior Court of Los Angeles County
Maria Andrea Davalos	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2016 - Present
Connie R. Quinones	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2013 - Present
Carl H. Moor	Superior Court of Los Angeles County
Shelley L. Kaufman	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2013 - Present
Curtis A. Kin	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2013 - Present
Natalie Stone	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2015 - May 13, 2024
Hector E. Gutierrez	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2014 - Present
Diego H. Edber	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2018 - Present
Jonathan Rosenbloom	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2018 - Present
Rubiya Nur	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2017 - Present
LaRonda McCoy	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2016 - Present
Keith H. Borjon	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2014 - Present
John A. Slawson	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2014 - September 15, 2021
Jean Nelson	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2018 - Present
Gary Roberts	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2018 - Present
Tony L. Richardson	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2012 - Present
Robert B. Broadbelt	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2012 - Present
Lisa Jaskol	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2016 - Present
Maria Lucy Armendariz	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2018 - Present
Lee W. Tsao	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2013 - Present
Andrew C. Kim	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2016 - Present
Richard J. Burdge Jr.	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2014 - Present
Joshua Wayser	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2015 - Present
Theresa Traber	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2015 - Present
Lisa Sepe-Wiesenfeld	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2015 - Present
Gustavo N. Sztraicher	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2014 - Present
Francis Bennett	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2015 - Present
Sherilyn P. Garnett	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2014 - 2022
Bruce G. Iwasaki	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2012 - Present
David Hizami	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2016 - Present
Terrance Lewis	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2018 - Present
Mark Epstein	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2017 - Present
Gary Micon	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2017 - Present
Miguel T. Espinoza	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2018 - Present
George F. Bird	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2015 - Present
Michelle Kim	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2018 - November 25, 2024
Christopher K. Lui	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2014 - Present
Debra A. Cole	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2012 - Present
Nancy Ramirez	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2017 - Present
Craig S. Barnes	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2018 - Present
Mario Barrera	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2018 - Present
Carolina V. Lugo	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2018 - Present
Firdaus Dordi	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2017 - Present
David Rosen	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2015 - September 11, 2023
Lynn Scaduto	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2017 - Present
William Sadler	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2016 - Present
Brenda J. Penny	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2018 - Present
Daniel Juarez	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2013 - Present
Kevin P. Stennis	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2015 - Present
Rene Caldwell Gilbertson	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2018 - Present
Gus May	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2017 - Present
Anne Hwang	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2018 - December 6, 2024
Daniel Crowley	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2018 - Present
David Reinert	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2018 - Present
Jessica Uzcategui	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2018 - Present
Joseph Burghardt	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2018 - Present
Enrique Monguia	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2014 - Present
Timothy Dillon	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2015 - Present
Douglas W. Stern	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2013 - Present
Michael Amerian	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2018 - Present
Sabina A. Helton	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2018 - Present
Jill T. Feeney	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2018 - Present
Joel Lofton	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2015 - Present
Cherol Nellon	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2018 - Present
Debra Losnick	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2018 - Present
Jana Seng	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2018 - Present
Alexander Giza	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2018 - Present
Altus Hudson	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2018 - Present
Maria Puente-Porras	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2018 - Present
Michelle S. Short	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2018 - Present
Catherine Pratt	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2015 - Present
Michael R. Powell	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2018 - Present
Helen Zukin	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2018 - July 17, 2023
Armen Tamzarian	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2013 - July 2, 2025
Michael Kelley	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2018 - 2023
David B. Walgren	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2012 - Present
Wendy Chang	Superior Court of Los Angeles County	2018 - Present
Michael Jurkovich	Superior Court of Madera County	2013 - Present
Geoffrey Howard	Superior Court of Marin County
Stephen Freccero	Superior Court of Marin County
Mark A. Talamantes	Superior Court of Marin County
Beverly Wood	Superior Court of Marin County
Beth Jordan	Superior Court of Marin County
Jeanine B. Nadel	Superior Court of Mendocino County
David A. Riemenschneider	Superior Court of Mendocino County	2012 - 2019
Carly Dolan	Superior Court of Mendocino County
Jeanne Schechter	Superior Court of Merced County
Harry L. Jacobs	Superior Court of Merced County
Paul C. Lo	Superior Court of Merced County
Heidi Whilden	Superior Court of Monterey County
Carrie McIntyre Panetta	Superior Court of Monterey County
Vanessa W. Vallarta	Superior Court of Monterey County
Michael S. Williams	Superior Court of Napa County
Elia Ortiz	Superior Court of Napa County
Linda J. Sloven	Superior Court of Nevada County
Gassia Apkarian	Superior Court of Orange County
Michael Strickroth	Superior Court of Orange County	2017 - Present
Nancy E. Zeltzer	Superior Court of Orange County	2014 - January 2, 2023
Thomas McConville	Superior Court of Orange County	2018 - Present
David Hesseltine	Superior Court of Orange County	2018 - Present
Katherine Lewis	Superior Court of Orange County
Melissa R. McCormick	Superior Court of Orange County	2015 - Present
Terri K. Flynn-Peister	Superior Court of Orange County
Kathleen Roberts	Superior Court of Orange County	2015 - Present
Mary Kreber Varipapa	Superior Court of Orange County	2015 - Present
Maurice Sanchez	Superior Court of Orange County	2018 - January 6, 2022
Sandy Nunes Leal	Superior Court of Orange County	2018 - Present
Jeannie M. Joseph	Superior Court of Orange County
Joanne Motoike	Superior Court of Orange County	2013 - 2022
Carol Henson	Superior Court of Orange County	2017 - Present
Richard Pacheco	Superior Court of Orange County
James Crandall	Superior Court of Orange County	2012 - 2023
Francisco P. Briseno	Superior Court of Orange County
Bradley Erdosi	Superior Court of Orange County
Elizabeth G. Macias	Superior Court of Orange County
John R. Zitny	Superior Court of Orange County	2015 - Present
Michael Perez	Superior Court of Orange County	2018 - Present
Jeremy Dolnick	Superior Court of Orange County	2018 - Present
Cynthia Herrera	Superior Court of Orange County	2018 - Present
Julian W. Bailey	Superior Court of Orange County	2012 - 2025
Craig E. Arthur	Superior Court of Orange County
Layne Melzer	Superior Court of Orange County	2016 - Present
Nathan Scott	Superior Court of Orange County
Gary Pohlson	Superior Court of Orange County	2016 - 2023
H. Shaina Colover	Superior Court of Orange County	2018 - Present
Michael S. McCartin	Superior Court of Orange County
Martha K. Gooding	Superior Court of Orange County	2014 - Present
Kimberly Knill	Superior Court of Orange County	2018 - Present
Timothy J. Stafford	Superior Court of Orange County	2013 - 2018
Lewis W. Clapp	Superior Court of Orange County	2012 - Present
Antony Ufland	Superior Court of Orange County	2017 - Present
Gary L. Moorhead	Superior Court of Orange County	2014 - 2021
Thomas A. Glazier	Superior Court of Orange County
Robert A. Knox	Superior Court of Orange County	2014 - Present
Scott Cooper	Superior Court of Orange County	2018 - Present
Fred W. Slaughter	Superior Court of Orange County	2014 - 2022
Nathan T. Vu	Superior Court of Orange County	2018 - Present
Andre De La Cruz	Superior Court of Orange County
Julie A. Palafox	Superior Court of Orange County	2015 - Present
Sheila O. Recio	Superior Court of Orange County	2018 - Present
Thomas A. Delaney	Superior Court of Orange County	2014 - 2022
Frank Ospino	Superior Court of Orange County	2015 - January 2, 2023
Sherri L. Honer	Superior Court of Orange County	2013 - Present
Michael W. Jones	Superior Court of Placer County
Emily A. Benjamini	Superior Court of Riverside County	2018 - Present
Otis Sterling III	Superior Court of Riverside County	2012 - Present
Chad Firetag	Superior Court of Riverside County	2015 - Present
Susanne S. Cho	Superior Court of Riverside County	2014 - Present
Dorothy McLaughlin	Superior Court of Riverside County	2018 - Present
Timothy J. Hollenhorst	Superior Court of Riverside County	2018 - Present
Jennifer R. Gerard	Superior Court of Riverside County	2018 - Present
Bambi Moyer	Superior Court of Riverside County	2015 - January 2, 2023
Raquel A. Marquez	Superior Court of Riverside County	2012 - Present
Kenneth J. Fernandez	Superior Court of Riverside County	2018 - Present
Godofredo Magno	Superior Court of Riverside County	2017 - Present
David M. Chapman	Superior Court of Riverside County	2012 - Unknown
Johnetta Anderson	Superior Court of Riverside County	2018 - Present
John W. Vineyard	Superior Court of Riverside County	2011 - Present
Matthew C. Perantoni	Superior Court of Riverside County	2013 - Present
Gail A. O'Rane	Superior Court of Riverside County	2013 - Present
Randall Stamen	Superior Court of Riverside County	2017 - Present
Eric A. Keen	Superior Court of Riverside County	2018 - Present
Sunshine S. Sykes	Superior Court of Riverside County	2013 - June 14, 2022
James T. Latting	Superior Court of Riverside County	2014 - January 2, 2023
Kira Klatchko	Superior Court of Riverside County	2017 - Present
Christopher B. Harmon	Superior Court of Riverside County	2014 - Present
Gregory Olson	Superior Court of Riverside County	2018 - Present
Emma Smith	Superior Court of Riverside County	2018 - Present
Dean Benjamini	Superior Court of Riverside County	2013 - Present
Steven Gevercer	Superior Court of Sacramento County	2012 - Present
Kenneth Mennemeier	Superior Court of Sacramento County	2015 - Present
Laurel D. White	Superior Court of Sacramento County	2012 - Present
Joginder Dhillon	Superior Court of Sacramento County	2018 - Present
Stephen P. Acquisto	Superior Court of Sacramento County	January 31, 2014 - Present
Jennifer K. Rockwell	Superior Court of Sacramento County	2014 - Present
Scott Tedmon	Superior Court of Sacramento County	2017 - Present
Steven Lapham	Superior Court of Sacramento County	2013 - April 17, 2023
Daniel Calabretta	Superior Court of Sacramento County	2018 - February 21, 2023
Michael G. Bowman	Superior Court of Sacramento County	2013 - Present
Jill Talley	Superior Court of Sacramento County	2018 - Present
Bunmi Awoniyi	Superior Court of Sacramento County	2013 - Present
Alyson Lewis	Superior Court of Sacramento County	2013 - Present
Kristina Lindquist	Superior Court of Sacramento County
Peter Southworth	Superior Court of Sacramento County	2018 - Present
Steven J. Singley	Superior Court of San Bernardino County	2014 - Present
Charles Umeda	Superior Court of San Bernardino County	2015 - Present
Jay Robinson	Superior Court of San Bernardino County	2018 - Present
Pamela P. King	Superior Court of San Bernardino County
Michael Camber	Superior Court of San Bernardino County
Khymberli S.Y. Apaloo	Superior Court of San Bernardino County
Corey Lee	Superior Court of San Bernardino County	2015 - Present
Antoine Raphael	Superior Court of San Bernardino County
Joel Agron	Superior Court of San Bernardino County	2018 - Present
Christopher Pallone	Superior Court of San Bernardino County	2018 - Present
Winston Keh	Superior Court of San Bernardino County
Michelle Gilleece	Superior Court of San Bernardino County
Bryan Stodghill	Superior Court of San Bernardino County	January 11, 2016 - Present
Erin K. Alexander	Superior Court of San Bernardino County
Lisa M. Rogan	Superior Court of San Bernardino County
David E. Driscoll	Superior Court of San Bernardino County	2018 - Present
Carlos Cabrera	Superior Court of San Bernardino County
Michael A. Knish	Superior Court of San Bernardino County
Stephanie Thornton-Harris	Superior Court of San Bernardino County	2018 - Present
Lily L. Sinfield	Superior Court of San Bernardino County
Daniel Belsky	Superior Court of San Diego County	2018 - Present
Kelly Chong Mok	Superior Court of San Diego County
Rachel Cano	Superior Court of San Diego County
Michael D. Washington	Superior Court of San Diego County
William Wood	Superior Court of San Diego County	2018 - Present
James Simmons	Superior Court of San Diego County	2017 - March 10, 2023
Lisa R. Rodriguez	Superior Court of San Diego County
Daniel G. Lamborn	Superior Court of San Diego County
Cindy D. Davis	Superior Court of San Diego County
Daniel F. Link	Superior Court of San Diego County
Pamela M. Parker	Superior Court of San Diego County
Enrique E. Camarena	Superior Court of San Diego County
Sharon L. Kalemkiarian	Superior Court of San Diego County
Laura Duffy	Superior Court of San Diego County
James Mangione	Superior Court of San Diego County
Saba Sheibani	Superior Court of San Diego County	2018 - Present
Patricia Guerrero	Superior Court of San Diego County	2013 - 2017
Carlos Varela	Superior Court of San Diego County	2018 - Present
Edlene McKenzie	Superior Court of San Diego County
Wendy Behan	Superior Court of San Diego County	2018 - Present
Rohanee Zapanta	Superior Court of San Diego County	2018 - Present
Laura Miller	Superior Court of San Diego County	2018 - Present
Cynthia Freeland	Superior Court of San Diego County
Shereen Charlick	Superior Court of San Diego County	2018 - Present
John Scherling	Superior Court of San Diego County
Marcella McLaughlin	Superior Court of San Diego County	2018 - Present
Loren G. Freestone	Superior Court of San Diego County	2018 - Present
Truc Do	Superior Court of San Diego County	2018 - 2021
Marian Gaston	Superior Court of San Diego County
Selena D. Epley	Superior Court of San Diego County
Paula S. Rosenstein	Superior Court of San Diego County
Michael J. Popkins	Superior Court of San Diego County
Tilisha Martin	Superior Court of San Diego County
Matthew C. Braner	Superior Court of San Diego County
Maryann D'Addezio Kotler	Superior Court of San Diego County
Keri G. Katz	Superior Court of San Diego County
Frank Birchak	Superior Court of San Diego County
Michael McNaughton	Superior Court of San Francisco County	2018 - Present
Christine Van Aken	Superior Court of San Francisco County	2018 - Present
Alexandra Robert Gordon	Superior Court of San Francisco County	2018 - Present
Brendan P. Conroy	Superior Court of San Francisco County	2013 - Present
Richard Darwin	Superior Court of San Francisco County	2018 - Present
Harry M. Dorfman	Superior Court of San Francisco County	2013 - Present
Joseph Quinn	Superior Court of San Francisco County	2015 - Present
Rochelle C. East	Superior Court of San Francisco County	2013 - Present
Ethan P. Schulman	Superior Court of San Francisco County	2014 - Present
Charles Crompton	Superior Court of San Francisco County	2015 - Present
Roger Chan	Superior Court of San Francisco County	2016 - Present
Edward A. Torpoco	Superior Court of San Francisco County	2015 - 2021
Sharon Reardon	Superior Court of San Francisco County	2015 - Present
Teresa Caffese	Superior Court of San Francisco County	2018 - Present
Eric Fleming	Superior Court of San Francisco County	2018 - Present
Ronald Evans Quidachay	Superior Court of San Francisco County	1998 - June 27, 2018
Rita Lin	Superior Court of San Francisco County	2018 - October 4, 2023
Braden C. Woods	Superior Court of San Francisco County	2013 - Present
Stephen Murphy	Superior Court of San Francisco County	2017 - Present
Christopher Hite	Superior Court of San Francisco County	2016 - Present
Tracie L. Brown	Superior Court of San Francisco County
Ross Moody	Superior Court of San Francisco County	2015 - Present
Gus Correa Barrera II	Superior Court of San Joaquin County	2017 - Present
Kristine Eagle	Superior Court of San Joaquin County	2016 - Present
Rita Coyne Federman	Superior Court of San Luis Obispo County
Hernaldo Baltodano	Superior Court of San Luis Obispo County
Jesse Marino	Superior Court of San Luis Obispo County
Gayle Peron	Superior Court of San Luis Obispo County
Tana Coates	Superior Court of San Luis Obispo County
Elizabeth M. Hill	Superior Court of San Mateo County
Susan L. Greenberg	Superior Court of San Mateo County
Richard H. DuBois	Superior Court of San Mateo County
Jeffrey Finigan	Superior Court of San Mateo County
James K. Voysey	Superior Court of Santa Barbara County
Pauline Maxwell	Superior Court of Santa Barbara County
John F. McGregor	Superior Court of Santa Barbara County
Michael Carrozzo	Superior Court of Santa Barbara County
Gustavo E. Lavayen	Superior Court of Santa Barbara County
Shelyna V. Brown	Superior Court of Santa Clara County	2012 - Present
Charles F. Adams	Superior Court of Santa Clara County	2018 - Present
Robert Hawk	Superior Court of Santa Clara County	2018 - Present
Sunil R. Kulkarni	Superior Court of Santa Clara County	2013 - Present
Frederick S. Chung	Superior Court of Santa Clara County	2018 - Present
Eric S. Geffon	Superior Court of Santa Clara County	2015 - Present
Mary J. Greenwood	Superior Court of Santa Clara County
Nona Klippen	Superior Court of Santa Clara County	2015 - Present
Cynthia C. Lie	Superior Court of Santa Clara County	2015 - August 29, 2021
Allison M. Danner	Superior Court of Santa Clara County
Jose Franco	Superior Court of Santa Clara County	2015 - Present
Christopher G. Rudy	Superior Court of Santa Clara County
Joshua Weinstein	Superior Court of Santa Clara County	2014 - 2021
Charles E. Wilson II	Superior Court of Santa Clara County	2014 - August 30, 2021
Panteha E. Saban	Superior Court of Santa Clara County	2018 - Present
Audra Ibarra	Superior Court of Santa Clara County	2018 - Present
Lori E. Pegg	Superior Court of Santa Clara County	2013 - Present
Evette Pennypacker	Superior Court of Santa Clara County	2018 - Present
James E. Towery	Superior Court of Santa Clara County	2012 - Present
Helen E. Williams	Superior Court of Santa Clara County	2012 - Present
Amber Rosen	Superior Court of Santa Clara County	2018 - Present
Elizabeth Peterson	Superior Court of Santa Clara County	2017 - Present
Roberta S. Hayashi	Superior Court of Santa Clara County	2015 - Present
Stephen S. Siegel	Superior Court of Santa Cruz County
Kim Baskett	Superior Court of Santa Cruz County
Daryl Kennedy	Superior Court of Shasta County	2017 - 2022
Gary G. Gibson	Superior Court of Shasta County
Monique D. McKee	Superior Court of Shasta County
Tamara Wood	Superior Court of Shasta County
Yvette Durant	Superior Court of Sierra County
William Pendergast	Superior Court of Solano County
Christine A. Carringer	Superior Court of Solano County
Carlos Gutierrez	Superior Court of Solano County
Lawrence E. Ornell	Superior Court of Sonoma County
Robert B. Westbrook	Superior Court of Stanislaus County
Alan K. Cassidy	Superior Court of Stanislaus County
Laura Woods	Superior Court of Tehama County
Michael B. Harper	Superior Court of Trinity County
John Bianco	Superior Court of Tulare County
Nathan Leedy	Superior Court of Tulare County
Antonio A. Reyes	Superior Court of Tulare County
Hugo Loza	Superior Court of Tulare County
Tara Howard	Superior Court of Tulare County
Michael B. Sheltzer	Superior Court of Tulare County
Nathan D. Ide	Superior Court of Tulare County
Robert Fultz	Superior Court of Tulare County
Kevin Seibert	Superior Court of Tuolumne County
Donald I. Segerstrom Jr.	Superior Court of Tuolumne County	January 20, 2012 - December 31, 2021
Kate P. Segerstrom	Superior Court of Tuolumne County	December 20, 2013 - January 31, 2022
Sonia Cortés	Superior Court of Yolo County

Judicial selection process

See also: Judicial selection in California

Judicial selection in California
California Supreme Court
Method:	Gubernatorial appointment
Term:	12 years
California Courts of Appeal
Method:	Gubernatorial appointment
Term:	12 years
California Superior Courts
Method:	Nonpartisan election
Term:	6 years

Judicial selection refers to the process used to select judges for courts. At the state level, methods of judicial selection vary substantially in the United States, and in some cases between different court types within a state. There are six primary types of judicial selection: partisan and nonpartisan elections, the Michigan method, assisted appointment, gubernatorial appointment, and legislative elections. To read more about how these selection methods are used across the country, click here.

This article covers how state court judges are selected in California, including:

• California Supreme Court,
• California Courts of Appeal,
• California Superior Courts, and
• Limited jurisdiction courts

As of April 2025, California uses two different systems for its selection of state court judges. The state's appellate judges are chosen by gubernatorial appointment—where the governor directly selects judges—followed by commission confirmation. Trial judges are elected by popular nonpartisan vote.

Click here to notify us of changes to judicial selection methods in this state.

Appellate state court selection in the United States, by general selection method

State courts and their selection methods across the U.S., including the District of Columbia
Method	Supreme Court (of 53)	Courts of Appeal (of 46)	Trial Courts (of 147)
Partisan elections (PE)	8	6	39
Nonpartisan elections (NPE)	13	16	34
Legislative elections (LE)	2	2	5
Gubernatorial appointment of judges (GA)	5	3	6
Assisted appointment (AA)	22	18	46
Combination or other	3	1	17

State profile

Demographic data for California
	California	U.S.
Total population:	38,993,940	316,515,021
Land area (sq mi):	155,779	3,531,905
Race and ethnicity**
White:	61.8%	73.6%
Black/African American:	5.9%	12.6%
Asian:	13.7%	5.1%
Native American:	0.7%	0.8%
Pacific Islander:	0.4%	0.2%
Two or more:	4.5%	3%
Hispanic/Latino:	38.4%	17.1%
Education
High school graduation rate:	81.8%	86.7%
College graduation rate:	31.4%	29.8%
Income
Median household income:	$61,818	$53,889
Persons below poverty level:	18.2%	11.3%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015) Click here for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in California. **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

Presidential voting pattern

See also: Presidential voting trends in California

California voted for the Democratic candidate in all seven presidential elections between 2000 and 2024.

More California coverage on Ballotpedia

• Elections in California
• United States congressional delegations from California
• Public policy in California
• Endorsers in California
• California fact checks
• More...

See also

• Judges appointed by Gavin Newsom

California	Judicial Selection	More Courts
Courts in California California Courts of Appeal California Supreme Court	Elections: 2025 • 2024 • 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 Gubernatorial appointments Judicial selection in California	Federal courts State courts Local courts

External links

• Office of the Governor

Footnotes

California courts

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Federal courts:

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: Central District of California, Eastern District of California, Northern District of California, Southern District of California • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: Central District of California, Eastern District of California, Northern District of California, Southern District of California

State courts:

California Supreme Court • California Courts of Appeal • California Superior Courts

State resources:

Courts in California • California judicial elections • Judicial selection in California