Newsom Reviewing Tuolumne County Superior Court Judicial Candidates

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Sonora, CA — It has been nearly five months since two Tuolumne County Superior Court judges, Donald Segerstrom and Kate Powell Segerstrom, retired.

Donald Segerstrom left effective December 31 and Kate Powell Segerstrom followed on January 20.

Clarke Broadcasting reached out to Tuolumne County Superior Court CEO Hector Gonzalez regarding how the current caseload is being met.

Gonzalez reports, “Since the retirements of Judge Donald Segerstrom and Judge Kate Powell Segerstrom we brought in a number of ‘assigned judges’ from all over the state to handle our court cases.  Assigned judges are retired judges who are willing to act as substitute judges if a court’s regular judges have a conflict of interest with a case or are on vacation or if there are vacant judge positions due to retirement. Both Judge Segerstrom and Judge Powell Segerstrom have returned to help our court handle cases as assigned judges.”

Clarke Broadcasting also reached out to Governor Newsom’s Office for an update on the selection process. Spokesperson Danella Debel reports, “The Governor’s Office is reviewing the credentials of qualified candidates to fill these vacancies, and we’ll announce when an appointment is made.”

No timeline was given by the Governor’s Office, and it is not immediately clear how many prospective candidates have applied for the two open seats.

Whoever is selected for the positions will hold the seats until at least 2024 when they are again on the ballot.