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Superior Court of Fresno County, California

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TheSuperior Court of Fresno County resides inCalifornia. Click on the links below to learn more about the court's...

Jurisdiction

This court holds the following jurisdiction:[1]

In general, all California superior courts have jurisdiction over a person that lives in California or can be found in California, and businesses or organizations that do business in California.

So, as long as you are suing someone who lives in California or a company or organization that does business here, the superior court has personal jurisdiction.[2]

Judges


OfficeNamePartyDate assumed office
Superior Court of Fresno CountyGlenda S. Allen-HillNonpartisan2008
Superior Court of Fresno CountyF. Brian AlvarezNonpartisan2009
Superior Court of Fresno CountyBrian M. AraxNonpartisan2007
Superior Court of Fresno CountyMelissa BaloianNo party preferenceMay 5, 2025
Superior Court of Fresno CountyGabriel BrickeyNonpartisanJanuary 4, 2021
Superior Court of Fresno CountyJonathan B. ConklinNonpartisan2005
Superior Court of Fresno CountyMark E. CullersNonpartisan2015
Superior Court of Fresno CountyKristi Culver KapetanNonpartisan2007
Superior Court of Fresno CountySamuel Dalesandro Jr.Nonpartisan
Superior Court of Fresno CountyMonica DiazNonpartisan2017
Superior Court of Fresno CountyMary DolasNonpartisan2015
Superior Court of Fresno CountyElizabeth EganNonpartisanJanuary 4, 2021
Superior Court of Fresno CountyGregory T. FainNonpartisan
Superior Court of Fresno CountyAmythest FreemanNonpartisanMarch 30, 2023
Superior Court of Fresno CountyKimberly A. GaabNonpartisan2008
Superior Court of Fresno CountyLisa M. GamoianNonpartisan2015
Superior Court of Fresno CountyDavid Andrew GottliebNonpartisan2005
Superior Court of Fresno CountyAmy K. GuerraNonpartisan2018
Superior Court of Fresno CountyJeffrey Y. Hamilton Jr.Nonpartisan2005
Superior Court of Fresno CountyAlvin M. Harrell IIINonpartisan2007
Superior Court of Fresno CountyMichael G. IdiartNonpartisan2015
Superior Court of Fresno CountyHeather JonesNonpartisanJanuary 4, 2019
Superior Court of Fresno CountyDavid C. KalemkarianNonpartisan2005
Superior Court of Fresno CountyTimothy A. KamsNonpartisan1998
Superior Court of Fresno CountyJames A. KelleyNonpartisan2009
Superior Court of Fresno CountyLeanne L. Le MonNonpartisan2021
Superior Court of Fresno CountyCharles J. LeeNonpartisan2021
Superior Court of Fresno CountyPahoua LorNonpartisan2022
Superior Court of Fresno CountyIrene Luna2021
Superior Court of Fresno CountyRobert ManganoNonpartisan2019
Superior Court of Fresno CountyDavid MuñozNonpartisan2023
Superior Court of Fresno CountyStephanie NeginNonpartisanMarch 14, 2022
Superior Court of Fresno CountyKimberly J. Nystrom-GeistNonpartisan2007
Superior Court of Fresno CountyGary R. OrozcoNonpartisan2001
Superior Court of Fresno CountyHoury A. SandersonNonpartisan2005
Superior Court of Fresno CountyVirna L. SantosNonpartisanMarch 14, 2022
Superior Court of Fresno CountyJonathan M. SkilesNonpartisan2010
Superior Court of Fresno CountyWilliam TerrenceNonpartisan2019
Superior Court of Fresno CountyD. Tyler TharpeNonpartisan2006
Superior Court of Fresno CountyMary VasquezDemocratic2023
Superior Court of Fresno CountyJohn R. VogtNonpartisan2003
Superior Court of Fresno CountyRyan I. WellsNonpartisan2021
Superior Court of Fresno CountyBob WhalenNonpartisanJanuary 2, 2023
Superior Court of Fresno CountyGeoffrey WilsonNonpartisan2022
Superior Court of Fresno CountyFrancine ZepedaNonpartisan2013
Superior Court of Fresno CountyVacant
Superior Court of Fresno CountyVacant


Elections

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

Selection method

See also:Judicial selection in the states
See also:Nonpartisan election

The1,535 judges of theCalifornia Superior Courts compete innonpartisan 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.[3][4][5][6]

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.[3]

Thechief 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.[3]

Qualifications
Candidates are required to have 10 years of experience as a law practitioner or as a judge of a court of record.[3]

Judicial elections in California

See also:California judicial elections

California is one of four states that usenonpartisan elections to initially select judges and then useretention elections to determine whether judges should remain on the bench. To read more about how states use judicial elections to select judges across the country,click here.

Primary election

Only candidates for the superior courts compete in primary elections.

  • If asuperior 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.[7][8]
  • 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.[8]
  • 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.[9]

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.[8][9]


See also

External links

Footnotes

  1. The Judicial Branch of California, "Jurisdiction and Venue: Where to file a case," accessed May 10, 2023
  2. Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
  3. 3.03.13.23.3American Judicature Society, "Methods of Judicial Selection: California," archived October 2, 2014
  4. Los Angeles Times, "Safeguarding California's judicial election process," August 21, 2011
  5. California Elections Code, "Section 8203," accessed May 21, 2014
  6. California Elections Code, "Section 8140-8150," accessed May 21, 2014
  7. Los Angeles Times, "Safeguarding California's judicial election process," August 21, 2011
  8. 8.08.18.2California Elections Code, "Section 8203," accessed April 22, 2014
  9. 9.09.1California Elections Code, "Section 8140-8150," accessed April 22, 2014


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