The Yolo Superior Court’s newest judge is someone with longtime Yolo County ties, raised in Winters and currently employed by the Yolo County Counsel’s Office.
Sonia Cortés, 43, will become the court’s 11th judge and first-ever Latino member when she takes the bench this summer, around the same time as the court’s move to the newly constructed courthouse on Woodland’s Main Street.
Her appointment by Gov. Jerry Brown was announced Thursday by Yolo Superior Court officials.
“We are absolutely delighted by the appointment,” said Judge Kathleen M. White, the court’s presiding judge. “Ms.Cortés is a superb lawyer with an extensive legal background. Yolo’s judges carry a heavy caseload and must handle everything from felonies to family law. Ms.Cortés is more than up to the task, and we look forward to her joining us in the new courthouse.”
Cortés, a Democrat, will fill the vacancy created earlier this year when Judge Janene Beronio, formerly a Yolo Superior Court commissioner, was elected to the seat vacated by Judge Stephen L. Mock when he retired in January.
The commissioner position was then converted into a judgeship by operation of law to serve Yolo County’s expanding population and court caseload.
A Winters High School graduate and salutatorian at her 1989 graduation, Cortés received her bachelor’s degree from UC Davis and law degree from the UC Berkeley School of Law.
She has worked for the Yolo County Counsel’s Office since 2002, first as a deputy county counsel before being elevated to senior deputy county counsel in 2007.
Prior to that, Cortés was managing attorney at the International Institute of the East Bay in 2002 and coordinating immigration attorney at La Raza Centro Legal from 2001 to 2002, where she was also an immigration attorney from 2000 to 2001.
Cortés also served as an attorney at Legal Aid of the North Bay from 1997 to 1999.
Judge Steven Basha, who served as County Counsel from 2000 to 2006, recalls hiring Cortés as deputy county counsel in November 2002.
“She was an excellent attorney and I have no doubt that she will be an excellent member of the Yolo Superior Court bench,” Basha said. “I am especially delighted because she has deep roots in Yolo County.”
As judge, Cortés will earn an annual salary of $184,610. She will join 10 other judges and two commissioners on the Yolo bench.