Superior Court of Sacramento County, California

Superior Court

The Superior Court of Sacramento County is one of 58 superior courts in California.

Judges

Judge	Tenure	Appointed By
Kara Ueda	2020 - Present	Gavin Newsom
Michael G. Bowman	2013 - Present	Jerry Brown
Steven Gevercer	2012 - Present	Jerry Brown
Sharon A. Lueras	2007 - Present	Arnold Schwarzenegger
Stephen P. Acquisto	January 31, 2014 - Present	Jerry Brown
Steve White
Myrlys Stockdale Coleman	January 2, 2023 - Present
Scott Tedmon	2017 - Present	Jerry Brown
James P. Arguelles	2010 - Present	Arnold Schwarzenegger
Jennifer K. Rockwell	2014 - Present	Jerry Brown
Shelleyanne W.L. Chang	2002 - Present	Gov. Gray Davis (D)
Michael W. Sweet
James M. Mize
Tami R. Bogert	2010 - Present	Arnold Schwarzenegger
Alyson Lewis	2013 - Present	Jerry Brown
Curtis M. Fiorini	2011 - Present	Arnold Schwarzenegger
Bunmi Awoniyi	2013 - Present	Jerry Brown
Lauri Damrell	2018 - Present	Election
Ken Brody	January 2, 2023 - Present
Peter Southworth	2018 - Present	Jerry Brown
Kristina Lindquist		Jerry Brown
David W. Bonilla	2021 - Present	Gavin Newsom
Donald J. Currier	2010 - Present	Arnold Schwarzenegger
James E. McFetridge	2006 - Present	Arnold Schwarzenegger
Benjamin D. Galloway	2021 - Present	Gavin Newsom
Satnam Rattu	2022 - Present	Gavin Newsom
Julie Yap	2020 - Present	Gavin Newsom
Kenneth Mennemeier	2015 - Present	Jerry Brown
Christopher E. Krueger	2011 - Present	Arnold Schwarzenegger
Helena R. Gweon	2006 - Present	Arnold Schwarzenegger
Joginder Dhillon	2018 - Present	Jerry Brown
Laurel D. White	2012 - Present	Jerry Brown
Jill Talley	2018 - Present	Jerry Brown
Alin Cintean		Gavin Newsom
Brenda R. Dabney		Gavin Newsom
Alexander Pal	March 25, 2022 - Present	Gavin Newsom
George Acero	March 25, 2021 - Present	Gavin Newsom
Jonathan Hayes	March 25, 2021 - Present	Gavin Newsom
Augustin Jimenez	March 25, 2021 - Present	Gavin Newsom
Alexander J. Pal		Gavin Newsom
Robert Artuz
Deborah D. Lobre	2020 - Present	Gavin Newsom
Andre Campbell	2021 - Present	Gavin Newsom
Philip Ferrari	2022 - Present	Gavin Newsom
Michelle Igra	2023 - Present	Gavin Newsom
Andi Mudryk	March 25, 2022 - Present	Gavin Newsom
Gerritt W. Wood	2008 - Present	Arnold Schwarzenegger
Carlton Davis	2020 - Present	Gavin Newsom
John P. Winn	2002 - Present	Gov. Gray Davis (D)
Maryanne G. Gilliard
Richard K. Sueyoshi
Stephen Lau	2022 - Present	Gavin Newsom
Allison Williams	2021 - Present	Gavin Newsom
Peter Williams	2023 - Present	Gavin Newsom
Rei Onishi	2023 - Present	Gavin Newsom
Amy Holliday	January 6, 2025 - Present
Richard Miadich	January 31, 2024 - Present	Gavin Newsom
Julie Weng-Gutierrez	March 30, 2023 - Present	Gavin Newsom
Shauna Franklin	May 30, 2023 - Present	Gavin Newsom
Jeffrey Galvin	2023 - Present	Gavin Newsom
Matthew J. Gary	2007 - Present	Arnold Schwarzenegger
Lawrence G. Brown	2010 - Present	Arnold Schwarzenegger
Kevin J. McCormick	2007 - Present	Arnold Schwarzenegger
Ernest W. Sawtelle	2008 - Present	Arnold Schwarzenegger
Delbert W. Oros	2007 - Present	Arnold Schwarzenegger
Thadd A. Blizzard	2009 - Present	Arnold Schwarzenegger

Judicial selection

The method of judicial selection for the California Superior Courts is officially nonpartisan election of judges, though many judges join the court via gubernatorial appointment. Once judges are appointed, they compete in the next general election following appointment.

If an incumbent superior court judge files for re-election and draws no opponent, that race does not appear on the ballot. If the race is contested, the candidate who wins more than 50% of the vote is elected. If no candidate receives more than 50%, the top two compete in a runoff in the general election in November.^[1]

Court locations

• The Gordon D. Schaber Sacramento County Courthouse, 720 9th Street, Sacramento, CA 95814
• William R. Ridgeway Family Relations Courthouse, 3341 Power Inn Road, Sacramento, CA 95826
• Carol Miller Justice Center, 301 Bicentennial Circle, Sacramento, CA 95826
• Juvenile Courthouse, 9605 Kiefer Boulevard, Sacramento, CA 95827
• Lorenzo Patiño Hall of Justice (Sacramento County Main Jail), 651 I Street, Sacramento, CA 95814^[2]

2009 petition

A strong majority of the court's judges signed petitions in July 2009 that opposed a pending budget deal which would have resulted in the court closing one day a month. The judges believed that trial court closures should not take place unless the California Administrative Office of the Courts cut its spending or released money from a database management project on which it had spent a little over $1 billion.^[3]

Elections

See also: California judicial elections

California is one of 43 states that hold elections for judicial positions. To learn more about judicial selection in California, click here.

• California local trial court judicial elections, 2025
• California local trial court judicial elections, 2024
• California local trial court judicial elections, 2023
• California local trial court judicial elections, 2022
• California local trial court judicial elections, 2021
• California local trial court judicial elections, 2020
• California local trial court judicial elections, 2019
• California local trial court judicial elections, 2018
• California local trial court judicial elections, 2017
• California local trial court judicial elections, 2016
• California judicial elections, 2014
• California judicial elections, 2012
• California judicial elections, 2010

Selection method

See also: Nonpartisan election

The 1,535 judges of the California Superior Courts compete in nonpartisan races in even-numbered years. If a candidate receives more than 50 percent of the vote in the June primary election, he or she is declared the winner; if no candidate receives more than 50 percent of the vote, a runoff between the top two candidates is held during the November general election.^[4][5][6][7]

If an incumbent judge is running unopposed in an election, his or her name does not appear on the ballot. The judge is automatically re-elected following the general election.^[4]

The chief judge of any given superior court is selected by peer vote of the court's members. He or she serves in that capacity for one or two years, depending on the county.^[4]

Qualifications
Candidates are required to have 10 years of experience as a law practitioner or as a judge of a court of record.^[4]

Election rules

Primary election

Only candidates for the superior courts compete in primary elections.

• If a superior court judge runs unopposed for re-election, his or her name does not appear on the ballot and he or she is automatically re-elected following the general election.^[8][9]

• Write-in candidates may file to run against an incumbent within 10 days after the filing deadline passes if they are able to secure enough signatures (between 100 and 600, depending on the number of registered voters in the county). In that case, the incumbent would appear on the general election ballot along with an option to vote for a write-in candidate.^[9]

• In contested races, the candidate who receives a majority of all the votes in the primary wins the election. If no candidate receives a majority of the votes in the primary, the top two compete in the November general election.^[10]

General election

• Superior court candidates who advance from the primary election compete in the general election.

• Superior court incumbents facing competition from write-in candidates appear on the ballot.^[9][10]

See also

• Sacramento County, California
• California Superior Courts
• Courts in California

External links

• Website of the Superior Court of Sacramento County
• California Courts, "Trial Court Roster"

Footnotes

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