Gov. Jerry Brown Thursday appointed Deputy District Attorney James Simmons Jr. and Commissioner Edlene McKenzie to San Diego County Superior Court judgeships.
In all, the governor appointed 34 men and women to serve as Superior Court judges in counties across the state.
Simmons, 37, has served as a deputy district attorney in San Diego since 2006. Before that, the Golden Gate University School of Law graduate was a deputy city attorney in the San Diego City Attorney’s Office from 2005 to 2006. He fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge David M. Szumowski.
McKenzie, 56, has served as a commissioner at the San Diego County Superior Court since 2005. She was a Dispute Settlement Board administrator at DeMars and Associates and a member of the Viejas Band of Kumeyaay Indians Independent Gaming Review Board from 1998 to 2005.
McKenzie was a sole practitioner from 1987 to 2005 and an associate at Archer and Koliwer from 1986 to 1987. The University of West Los Angeles School of Law graduate fills a vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Charles Ervin.
Both Simmons and McKenzie will earn $200,042 annually.
Patricia Guerrero, who has served as supervising judge for the Family Law Division at the San Diego County Superior Court since 2017, was appointed as an associate justice for the Fourth District Court of Appeal, Division One.
Guerrero, 45, has served as a judge in the Family Law Division since 2013. She was a partner at Latham and Watkins LLP from 2007 to 2013. If the Stanford Law School graduate’s appointment is confirmed by the Commission on Judicial Appointments, she will fill the vacancy created by the death of Justice Alex McDonald and will earn $228,918 annually.
—City News Service
