Gov. Gavin Newsom appointed Michele Beckwith, a Yolo County attorney, to the Sacramento County Superior Court on Wednesday. The appointment was one of five for Sacramento County announced within a statewide group of 23 judicial appointments, according to Elk Grove News. The position pays $244,727 annually, the outlet reported.
Beckwith has served as a deputy legal affairs secretary in Newsom’s office since 2025. Before joining the governor’s office, she was a federal prosecutor and later first assistant U.S. attorney after leading the office’s criminal division, Elk Grove News reported. She will fill the vacancy created when Judge Lauri Damrell moved to the Court of Appeal.
Beckwith’s departure from federal service was described in an account she gave to the New York Times and that the Los Angeles Times reported. According to that account, Beckwith said her employment ended after she raised with Border Patrol chief Gregory Bovino the need to comply with a court order. The circumstances of her departure are presented here as Beckwith’s account, not as an independently established finding.
California superior-court vacancies are filled by gubernatorial appointment, rather than confirmation. A judge must have been admitted to practice law in California or served as a judge in the state for at least 10 years immediately before appointment or election, according to the California Courts Newsroom.
