SLO County prosecutor appointed by Gavin Newsom to serve as Central Coast judge

A San Luis Obispo County prosecutor has been appointed to fill a judicial vacancy in Santa Barbara County.

Kristy Imel was appointed to serve as a judge in Santa Barbara County Superior Court, according to a Thursday announcement from Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office.

Imel has served as a deputy district attorney at the San Luis Obispo County District Attorney’s Office since 2010.

She previously worked at the Merced County District Attorney’s Office from 2007 to 2010.

She was an adjunct professor at Merced College from 2008 to 2009.

Imel, a registered Democrat, earned a juris doctor degree from the Santa Barbara and Ventura Colleges of Law.

She will fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Arthur Garcia late last year.

She reportedly will be sworn in on Tuesday in Santa Maria.

Santa Barbara County Superior Court has at least one more vacancy with the retirement of Judge Brian Hill, who has continued to serve as the courts work to overcome the case backlog created by the COVID-19 pandemic.

With Imel’s appointment, Newsom has filled four judicial vacancies in Santa Barbara County within the past 12 months.

Appointing someone from a neighboring county isn’t unusual.

On Jan. 31, Newsom named Santa Barbara County resident Catherine Swysen to fill a vacancy on the San Luis Obispo County bench.

Swysen, who had been managing partner at Sanger Swysen & Dunkle since 1997, had represented clients with cases throughout Santa Barbara County.

Imel’s appointment was one of 15 announced by the Governor’s Office to fill judicial vacancies across the state. The compensation for each of these positions is $232,399, state officials said.

This story was originally published October 8, 2023 at 10:36 AM.