VOTE411 Voter Guide

⚖️Superior Court Judges oversee court proceedings in all civil and criminal cases under state law and local ordinances, except specialized cases assigned by law to other courts or agencies. They make final decisions or instruct juries to do so. Cases range from parking violations and small claims to class actions and murder. Cases include adults and juveniles. Judges have assignments, but can be reassigned to other specialties. The 30 judges elect a Presiding Judge for a 2-year term. For infractions which don’t involve jail time, decisions can be appealed to four of the Superior Court judges, the Appellate Division. Otherwise, appeals go to the California Court of Appeal for the Second District, whose justices are on the November ballot for retention every 12 years. Former Presiding Judge DeNoce described the job to the League in 2022 https://youtu.be/bKf3uWQnJdI Superior Court judges have 6-year terms, and pay is $245,000/year. 16 terms expire in 2026. One of these seats has two candidates, who are on the primary ballot. The majority wins. Each of the other 15 seats has only one candidate, who does not appear on any ballot, and wins automatically in the November general election. If there were more candidates and no one wins a majority in the primary, the top two are in the November general election. For all 16 seats, if a write-in candidate registers for the November general election, the ballot will have space to write in that name, as well as the printed name(s) of the candidate(s) from the primary.