Santa Clara County, California (Judicial)

Santa Clara County is located within the Sixth District Court of Appeal.

The people of Santa Clara County are served by a Superior Court.

The United States District Court for the Northern District of California has jurisdiction in Santa Clara County. Appeals from the Northern District go to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

# Judges[edit]

Santa Clara County, California

## Superior Court[edit]

### Superior Court of Santa Clara County, California

Judge | Tenure | Appointed By

|
|

David A. Cena

|  |

Erica R. Yew

2001 - Present

Gov. Gray Davis (D)

Helen E. Williams

2012 - Present

Jerry Brown

James E. Towery

2012 - Present

Jerry Brown

Peter H. Kirwan

2006 - Present

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Carol W. Overton

2005 - Present

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Shawna M. Schwarz

2006 - Present

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Julianne Sylva

2015 - Present

Election

Kenneth Paul Barnum

1995 - Present

Gov. Pete Wilson (R)

Drew C. Takaichi

2011 - Present

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Thomas E. Kuhnle

2010 - Present

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Matthew S. Harris

2015 - Present

Election

Socrates Peter Manoukian

1993 - Present

Gov. Pete Wilson (R)

My-Le Jacqueline Duong

2007 - Present

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Stuart Scott

2015 - Present

Election

Thang Nguyen Barrett

|  |

Elizabeth Peterson

2017 - Present

Jerry Brown

Franklin E. Bondonno

2005 - Present

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Lori E. Pegg

2013 - Present

Jerry Brown

Roberta S. Hayashi

2015 - Present

Jerry Brown

Christopher G. Rudy

|  |

Jerry Brown

William J. Monahan

2007 - Present

Election

Nona Klippen

2015 - Present

Jerry Brown

Griffin M.J. Bonini

|  |

Maureen A. Folan

2010 - Present

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Paul R. Bernal

2000 - Present

Election

Theodore C. Zayner

2009 - Present

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Julia A. Emede

2010 - Present

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Brian J. Buckelew

2021 - Present

Gavin Newsom

Hanley Chew

2021 - Present

Gavin Newsom

Shella Deen

2021 - Present

Gavin Newsom

Jessica M. Delgado

2021 - Present

Gavin Newsom

Rafael A. Sivilla-Jones

2021 - Present

Gavin Newsom

Vanessa A. Zecher

|  |

Javier Alcala

2010 - Present

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Daniel T. Nishigaya

2010 - Present

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Micael Estremera

|  |

Gavin Newsom

Andrea E. Flint

2011 - Present

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Patricia M. Lucas

2003 - Present

Gov. Gray Davis (D)

Jose Franco

2015 - Present

Jerry Brown

Cynthia A. Sevely

2013 - Present

Election

Julia Alloggiamento

2011 - Present

Election

Arthur Bocanegra

|  |

Jesus Valencia

2010 - Present

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Kelley Paul

|  |

Gavin Newsom

Benjamin Williams

April 7, 2023 - Present

Gavin Newsom

Evette Pennypacker

2018 - Present

Jerry Brown

Nahal Iravani-Sani

2019 - Present

Election

Audra Ibarra

2018 - Present

Jerry Brown

Nicole Isger

January 1, 2019 - Present

Johnny Gogo

October 25, 2019 - Present

Gavin Newsom

Christine Garcia-Sen

January 4, 2021 - Present

Election

Brooke Blecher

2020 - Present

Gavin Newsom

Carrie A. Zepeda

2003 - Present

Gov. Gray Davis (D)

Stephen V. Manley

|  |

Sunil R. Kulkarni

2013 - Present

Jerry Brown

Eric S. Geffon

2015 - Present

Jerry Brown

Deborah A. Ryan

2010 - Present

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Cindy Seeley Hendrickson

2019 - Present

Election

Shelyna V. Brown

2012 - Present

Jerry Brown

Mary Arand

2007 - Present

Arnold Schwarzenegger

L. Michael Clark

2008 - Present

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Charles F. Adams

2018 - Present

Jerry Brown

Robert Hawk

2018 - Present

Jerry Brown

Frederick S. Chung

2018 - Present

Jerry Brown

Rebeca Esquivel-Pedroza

2022 - Present

Gavin Newsom

Kimberly Parker

|  |

Gavin Newsom

Ram Fletcher

|  |

Gavin Newsom

Vinita Bali

2023 - Present

Gavin Newsom

Stephen Lowney

2023 - Present

Gavin Newsom

Luis Ramos

2020 - Present

Gavin Newsom

Panteha E. Saban

2018 - Present

Jerry Brown

Amber Rosen

2018 - Present

Jerry Brown

Johnene Stebbins

January 6, 2025 - Present

JoAnne McCracken

2010 - Present

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Beth A.R. McGowen

2009 - Present

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Jacqueline M. Arroyo

2008 - Present

Arnold Schwarzenegger

## See also[edit]

* California counties
* Courts in California

## External links[edit]

* Santa Clara County Court Records

## Footnotes[edit]

v • e

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* * *

Analysis|

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* * *

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* * *

Tax measures|

Business taxes • Hotel taxes • Marijuana taxes • Oil and gas • Parcel taxes • Real estate transfer taxes • Sales taxes • Utility user taxes • Vehicle registration taxes

v • e

State of California
Sacramento (capital)

|

Elections |

What's on my ballot? | Elections in 2025 | How to vote | How to run for office | Ballot measures

Government |

Who represents me? | U.S. President | U.S. Congress | Federal courts | State executives | State legislature | State and local courts | Counties | Cities | School districts | Public policy

# Elections[edit]

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

## Election rules[edit]

#### Primary election[edit]

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.[1][2]

* 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.[2]

* 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.[3]

#### General election[edit]

* 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.[2][3]

1. ↑ Los Angeles Times, "Safeguarding California's judicial election process," August 21, 2011
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 California Elections Code, "Section 8203," accessed April 22, 2014
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 California Elections Code, "Section 8140-8150," accessed April 22, 2014