LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — The governor announced that Lake County will have a new judge for the new year.

On Monday, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office said John Langan will be the newest member of the Lake County Superior Court bench.

Langan has a lengthy record of service in the legal profession in Lake County. Most recently, he has served as a commissioner at the Lake County Superior Court since 2019.

In that position, Langan has handled cases involving the Department of Child Support Services, traffic, small claims and unlawful detainers. 

The court commissioner job is a good preparation for a judicial appointment — while not a judge, it has similar powers and the ability to carry out judicial functions as directed by the court.

Langan received his Juris Doctor degree from the University of San Francisco School of Law. 

He went on to serve as deputy public defender at the Sonoma County Public Defender’s Office from 1999 to 2001. 

From there, he came to Lake County, where he’s spent the majority of his career.

Langan served in several roles in the Lake County District Attorney’s Office, beginning as a deputy district attorney from 2001 to 2004. 

From 2004 to 2019, he served as a senior deputy district attorney in Lake County before he was selected to be the Superior Court commissioner in January of 2019.

The newly appointed Judge Langan succeeds Judge Andrew Blum, who retired before the end of his term. Blum’s last day on the bench as a full-time judge was July 3. In the months since, Blum has begun hearing cases as a retired judge, a common practice at a time when judges are needed not just locally — as Lake County has a high case rate — but throughout the state.

The last time a Lake County Superior Court judicial vacancy was filled by a gubernatorial appointment was when Judge J. David Markham was appointed to succeed Judge Richard Martin by then-Gov. Jerry Brown in December 2017. 

Langan’s appointment was among 10 new Superior Court judges Newsom’s office announced on Monday.

The other new judges appointed this week — all Democrats like Langan — include Alameda Superior Court judges Novella Coleman and Kathleen Vermazen Radez; Fresno Superior Court Judge David Chiappetta; Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Alma D. Puente; Orange Superior Court Judge Allison Chan; San Francisco Superior Court judges Christopher Hu and Dane Reinstedt; San Mateo Superior Court Judge Jennifer M. Frost; and Shasta Superior Court Judge Ryan Birss.

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