The San Diego Superior Court has launched a local Judicial Mentor Program to support Governor Gavin Newsom’s recently announced California Judicial Mentor Program – “a statewide undertaking between the executive and judicial branches to advance the shared goal of an inclusive judiciary that reflects California’s diversity.”

In observance of the Independence Day statewide holiday, the San Diego Superior Court will close all courtrooms and business offices on Monday, July 5, 2021.

The public is urged to visit the Court’s website at sdcourt.ca.gov to handle traffic tickets or obtain court information. 

Judge Timothy M. Casserly will officially retire from the San Diego Superior Court today after serving on the bench for 25 years, where he held positions in Criminal and Civil Law.



“It has truly been an honor and a privilege to serve the San Diego County public as a judge,” said Judge Casserly. “I feel incredibly fortunate to have been given this position of responsibility.”

The San Diego Superior Court is restoring additional in-person access in the wake of updated state and local public health guidance that allows for the relaxing of certain COVID-19 safety protocols. Effective June 15, 2021, public access will generally revert to prepandemic levels while many of the recently introduced online and remote options will remain available.

– Judge Margie Gunthardt Woods will officially retire from the San Diego Superior Court today after serving more than 30 years as a judicial officer in various capacities. She began her judicial career as a Superior Court Juvenile Court Referee at just 33 years of age, presiding over juvenile dependency and delinquency cases from 1987-1990. Judge Woods returned to the bench in 1993 when she was selected to serve as a Municipal Court Commissioner.

In observance of the Memorial Day statewide holiday, the San Diego Superior Court will close all courtrooms and business offices on Monday, May 31, 2021. The public is urged to visit the Court’s website at sdcourt.ca.gov to handle traffic tickets or obtain court information

Judge Jeffrey B. Barton will officially retire from the San Diego Superior Court today. Judge Barton served 20 years on the bench and had assignments in civil, family, and criminal law.

“Serving the San Diego public as a judge has been a great privilege and honor, said Judge Barton. “The opportunity to give all members of the public a full, fair and unbiased opportunity to have their cases heard was the greatest experience of my professional life.”

The Honorable Ronald L. Styn will conclude more than 20 years on the San Diego Superior Court bench on Friday, April 16, 2021. Judge Styn, a native San Diegan and graduate of Chula Vista High School, earned a B.A. from the University of Redlands before going on to earn his law degree from Stanford Law School.

The San Diego Superior Court is seeking applicants to fill a vacancy on the San Diego County Juvenile Justice Commission (JJC). The Juvenile Justice Commission is a state-mandated, court-appointed citizens’ commission. Its purpose is to inquire into the administration of juvenile court law in San Diego County, to provide leadership for citizen action and to promote an effective juvenile justice system operated in an environment of credibility, dignity, fairness and respect for the youth of San Diego County.

The San Diego Superior Court website (sdcourt.ca.gov) will not be available due to a planned power outage starting

Friday, April 9 at 7:30 p.m. through Saturday, April 10 at 2:00 p.m.

The outage will affect all San Diego Superior Court webpages and court systems, including the Court Index, Register of Actions and other court applications.

The San Diego Superior Court will be closed on Wednesday, March 31, 2021, in observance of the court-wide holiday commemorating Cesar Chavez Day. The public is urged to visit the Court’s website at sdcourt.ca.gov to handle traffic tickets or obtain court information.

The San Diego Superior Court website (sdcourt.ca.gov) will not be available due to maintenance on Saturday, March 27 from 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. The website closure will affect all San Diego Superior Court webpages.

Effective April 15, the San Diego Superior Court will require that filings submitted by attorneys for represented parties in all Limited and Unlimited Civil or Probate matters be filed electronically. This new mandatory e-filing requirement comes after being introduced as an option in these case types in 2013 and is the latest phase in the Court’s Electronic Filing and Imaging Pilot Program.

The Honorable Randa Trapp will retire on March 17, 2021, after serving 18 years on the bench. Judge Trapp, a native San Diegan, proud graduate of Lincoln High School, and a veteran of the United States Navy, earned a B.A. in Political Science from San Jose State University before going on to earn her law degree from Georgetown University Law Center.

– La Jolla Country Day School’s Mock Trial team outperformed 27 other San Diego County high school teams to win the annual legal competition. The San Diego County Mock Trial program provides high school students with the opportunity to experience the legal field in realistic courtroom settings rather than learning about the rule of law from books and lectures. The student teams undertake the roles of lawyers and witnesses facing off on a hypothetical case in front of actual state and federal judges. The multi-round competition was held virtually over the past month.

Celebrating and building upon 10 years of success, the Veterans Treatment Court (VTC) takes probationers who are Veterans or active-duty service members with criminal convictions and unique mental health conditions stemming from their military service and places them on a separate and specialized track of treatment rather than incarceration.

An imaginary case involving statements made to police, whether a social media influencer incited someone to violence and illegally obtained documents has drawn hundreds of local high school students into the 15th Annual San Diego County High School Mock Trial Competition.

The San Diego Superior Court will shut down its website (sdcourt.ca.gov) for routine maintenance on Saturday, February 13 from 6:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. The website closure will affect all San Diego Superior Court webpages.

The San Diego Superior Court will be closed on Friday, February 12 and Monday, February 15, 2021, in observance of the statewide holidays commemorating Lincoln’s Birthday and Presidents’ Day.

The public is urged to visit the Court’s website at sdcourt.ca.gov to handle traffic tickets or obtain court information.

San Diego Superior Court jury trials were suspended throughout most of 2020, though a few trials were held in October and November. Jury trials were again suspended in December and January; however, the Court now aims to resume jury trials in February 2021.