Judge Ramona Garrett '80 Receives Solano County Bar Association Award

In November, the Solano County Bar Association recognized the extraordinary career of Ramona Garrett '80 with its inaugural Legal Trailblazers Award.  

Throughout her life, Garrett has overcome challenges. As a child, she spent time in the segregated schools of Arkansas while her family struggled to get by. Her father was in the Air Force, and the family moved around the world, from Libya to Japan. Eventually her family settled in Fairfield.  

In high school, she became a mother. As a single mom with a newborn baby, she started college at Santa Clara University. Surviving on public assistance, scholarships, and loans, Garrett juggled motherhood and student life to earn her bachelor's degree in philosophy in 1974. After graduation, she found work as a salesperson for a cable television company in Fairfield. But she knew she wanted more.  

Garrett was the first in her family to go to college and relatives would ask her questions about their legal issues. She realized she was interested in the law and decided to visit King Hall. She has said that when she came to King Hall she immediately felt a sense of kinship.  

As a student she excelled. She was president of the Black Law Students Association during her second year and remembers a family atmosphere among the students. Garrett also developed strong relationships with the faculty.  

After graduating and passing the bar in 1980, Garrett joined a Vallejo civil law firm. She later became a prosecutor in Contra Costa County before joining the Solano County District Attorney’s office in 1984. 

Garrett then took on the infamous People v. Stanley Verketis case. The case involved a disabled Vietnam veteran who killed a Fairfield police officer, a first in the city's history.  Tensions ran high in the community, but Garrett prevailed, securing a conviction.  

In 1992, Garrett became the first female and first Black judge appointed to the Northern Solano Municipal Court. She served with distinction until 2015, and started the Solano County Drug Court. 

At the Legal Trailblazers Award ceremony, UC Davis Law Dean Kevin R. Johnson introduced Garrett. California Supreme Court Associate Justice Martin Jenkins and Gov. Newsom's Judicial Appointments Secretary, Luis Céspedes, also were in attendance.