Two new judges have been named to the Santa Barbara County Superior Court by Gov. Gavin Newsom, leaving one vacancy in the North County.
Stephen Foley, 51, of Los Olivos and Denise Hippach, 46, of Grover Beach were appointed Friday, according to a long-awaited announcement from the state.
Foley, who has served as a court commissioner since 2018, took the oath of office for his new job on Friday afternoon in a Santa Maria courtroom as other judges, attorneys and court staff watched. Presiding Judge Gustavo Lavayen administered the oath of office, calling it a fantastic day.
“You’re going to be a great jurist for Santa Barbara County,” Lavayen told Foley.
“This is a dream come true,” Foley said.
Before being named commissioner, Foley served as a supervising deputy district attorney at the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office from 2004 to 2018 and was an instructor at Allan Hancock College from 2005 to 2018.
He previously served in several positions at the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office from 1996 to 2004.
The graduate of San Marcos High School and the University of Notre Dame earned a law degree from the University of California, Los Angeles.
He fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge James Voysey, who has continued to help out by some hearing cases.
Foley, a Democrat, was elected in June to fill Voysey’s seat, with an official start date of Jan. 1. The governor’s appointment allows him to immediately assume the job of judge.
Hippach has been a senior deputy county counsel at the Santa Barbara County Counsel’s Office since 2018. She served as a deputy attorney general at the Idaho Office of the Attorney General from 2016 to 2018.
She was a deputy prosecuting attorney at the Canyon County Prosecutor’s Office from 2015 to 2016 and a panel attorney at the Judicial Branch of California Court-Appointed Counsel Program from 2014 to 2018.
Hippach was a deputy county counsel at the Los Angeles County Counsel’s Office from 2008 to 2014, staff attorney for Los Angeles Dependency Lawyers from 2007 to 2008 and deputy district attorney at the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office from 2004 to 2006.
She earned a law degree from the University of Southern California.
She fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge James Herman.
Hippach, a Democrat, has most recently handled juvenile dependency cases. Her swearing-in ceremony will be delayed to allow her time to wrap up her caseload before starting her new job.
At least one more vacancy remains for the Santa Barbara County courts because of the retirement of Judge Timothy Staffel.
However, Foley’s job as a commissioner was filled earlier this year with the hiring of Carol Lee Hubner in anticipation of his appointment.
Santa Barbara County’s new judges were among Newsom’s appointments of 16 Superior Court judges for 10 counties on Friday.
— Noozhawk North County editor Janene Scully can be reached at jscully@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.