Alum of the Month: Judge Ramona Garrett '80

Judge Ramona Garrett '80 served on the bench in Solano County for more than 23 years, originally on the Municipal and then on the Superior Court. She was the county’s first woman judge and first African American judge to sit on those courts. After beginning her career in private practice, she became a Deputy District Attorney in Contra Costa County in 1982. Two years later, she moved to Solano County as a Deputy District Attorney. Almost immediately, she was assigned a high-profile capital murder trial involving a Vietnam veteran who killed a Fairfield police officer. While litigating the case, and facing intense, statewide media coverage, she was promoted to Chief Deputy District Attorney.

After the Municipal and Superior courts consolidated, Judge Garrett helped create Solano County’s Drug Court program in 1996. She served as presiding judge of the Superior court from 2008 to 2009. In 2010, the California Women Lawyers awarded her the Rose Bird Memorial Award. She retired in 2015. The Solano County Bar Association honored her with the first Annual Legal Trailblazers Award in November 2022.

Read the full profile about Judge Garrett.