A Santa Barbara County Superior Court judge has been confirmed to serve as an associate justice for the Second District Court of Appeal in Ventura.
Denise Hippach was nominated by Gov. Gavin Newsom earlier this month to serve the appellate court’s Division Six. Last week, the Commission on Judicial Appointments approved the confirmation.
Hippach had been serving as a judge in Santa Barbara County Superior Court since 2022, spending most of her time in criminal courts and more recently handling civil cases, both in Santa Maria.
She was the first African-American to serve as judge in Santa Barbara County.
Before becoming a judge she served as a senior deputy county counsel at the Santa Barbara County Counsel’s Office from 2018 to 2022.
She also worked as a deputy attorney general at the Idaho Attorney General’s Office from 2015 to 2018. She served as deputy prosecuting attorney at the Canyon County Prosecutor’s Office from 2016 to 2018.
Hippach previously was a panel attorney at the California Court of Appeal, Court-Appointed Counsel Program from 2014 to 2018, and a deputy county counsel in Los Angeles County from 2008 to 2014.
She also worked as a deputy district attorney in Riverside County from 2004 to 2006.
She attended UC Santa Barbara from 1994 to 1996, before transferring to UCLA and receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science in 1998.
She earned a juris doctorate from the University of Southern California Gould School of Law.
On Aug. 7, Hippach was one of Newsom’s eight nominations for new Court of Appeal justices throughout the state.
The Commission on Judicial Appointments, which consists of Chief Justice Patricia Guerrero, Attorney General Rob Bonta, and Senior Presiding Justice Francis Rothschild, approved Hippach’s confirmation after hearing from her supporters.
Last year, Hippach sent two months on a temporary assignment with the Court of Appeal, Second District, Division Six.
Several of Hippach’s colleagues backed her nomination by speaking in favor or sending letters encouraging the confirmation.
Her departure means another vacancy among the ranks of judges serving Santa Barbara County Superior Court. The governor is expected to nominate her replacement in the coming months.
