U.S. Magistrate Stephen J. Hillman has been appointed chief magistrate judge for the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. He succeeds Chief U.S. Magistrate Judge Ralph Zarefsky.
Hillman was appointed a U.S. magistrate judge in 1992. The California native received his B.A. degree, with highest honors, from UC Berkeley in 1972 and was named to Phi Beta Kappa. After obtaining his law degree from the University of Washington School of Law, he served as a deputy federal public defender in Los Angeles, and was the acting chief deputy federal public defender for the central district from 1984 to 1986. He was engaged in private civil practice from 1986 until he was appointed to the federal bench in 1992.
The Central District of California considers nearly 15,000 cases annually, addressing an array of issues, including constitutional and civil rights, federal benefits and federal crimes. The district is the nation’s largest, serving 18 million people in Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Luis Obispo and Ventura counties.
As chief magistrate judge, Hillman is the administrative head of a corps of 23 magistrate judges located in Los Angeles, Riverside and Santa Ana, and one part-time magistrate judge in Santa Barbara County.