PERSONAL

• Born 1952 in Whittier, California
• Married; six children, five grandchildren

EDUCATION

• Pepperdine University School of Law, Juris Doctor awarded 1978
• Brigham Young University, Bachelor of Arts in Economics awarded 1975

DATE OF ADMISSION TO BAR - 1978

PROFESSIONAL LEGAL BACKGROUND

• Law Offices of Thomas T. Anderson, Indio, California 1978-1995
• Judge, Riverside County, California 1995-2006
• Associate Justice, Fourth Appellate District, Division Two 2006-present

JUDICIAL EXPERIENCE

Appointed to the Fourth District Court of Appeal, Division Two, by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, June 2006

Appointed to the Riverside Superior Court by Governor Pete Wilson, 1995

• Presiding Judge of the Riverside County Superior Court of California January 1, 2003 – December 31, 2004
• Assistant Presiding Judge of the Riverside County Superior Court January 1, 2001 – December 31, 2002
• Supervising Judge of the Riverside County Superior Court, Desert Judicial District 1999 – 2002
• Assistant Supervising Judge of the Riverside County Superior Court, Desert Judicial District 1996 – 1998

COMMITTEE MEMBERSHIPS

State of California
Judicial Council of California, San Francisco

• Member of the Judicial Council of California September 2010 – Present
  • Chair, Executive and Planning Committee July 2011 – Present
  • Chair, Rules and Projects Committee – 2010
• Vice Chair, Supreme Court Committee on Judicial Ethics Opinions January 2011 – Present
• Commission on the Future of California’s Court System 2014 – present
• Commission on Access to Justice 2008 – present
• Commission for Impartial Courts, Task Force on Judicial Candidate Campaign Conduct, Chair, September 2007 – Present
• Continuing Judicial Studies Program Education Committee, 2007 – 2010
• California State Bar Task Force on Lawyer Support for Legal Services, Chair 2006 – 2008
• Science and the Law Steering Committee, 2005 – 2007
• Editorial Board, California Courts Review, 2005 – present
• Bench-Bar Coalition, 2004 – present
• Temporary Judges Working Group Co-Chairperson, 2003 – 2007
• Probate Conservatorship Task Force 2006 – 2008
• Member of the Judicial Council of California September 2004 – June 2006
• Enhanced Collections Collaborative Court-Working Group 2003 – 2007
• Trial Court Presiding Judges Advisory Committee, 2003 – 2004
• Co-Chair of Presiding Judges & Court Executives Legislation Subcommittee, 2003 – 2004
• Civil Law Education Planning Committee, 2003 – 2004
• Trial Court Executive Management Budget Working Group, 2002 – 2004
• Community-Focused Court Planning Implementation, 1998 – 2003
• Working Group on Term of Presiding Judge, 2004
• Task Force on Judicial Ethics Issues, 2004
• Consultant CJER:  Judges Guide to ADR, 2004
• Civil & Small Claims Advisory Committee, 1998-2002, Chairperson, 2000 – 2002
• Subcommittee assignments-Case Management, Small Claims, Legislative)
• Community-Focused Strategic Planning Steering Committee, 1997 – 1998

California Supreme Court

• Supreme Court Committee on Judicial Ethics Advisory Opinions Vice-Chairperson, 2010 – present

California Judges Association, San Francisco

• Mid-Year Planning Committee 2004 – 2009
• Executive Board of Directors, 1999 – 2002
• Vice President, 2001 – 2002
• Civil Law & Procedure Committee, 1998 – 1999
• Public Information & Education, 1996 – 1998

County of Riverside

• VIP Mentors, Board of Directors 2007 – present
• Self-Represented Litigants Oversight Committee, Riverside Superior Court (Appellate Member) 2006 – present
• Presiding Judge of the Superior Court of California, January 1, 2003 – December 31, 2004
• Executive Committee, 1996 – 2006
• Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee, 1997 – 2002
• Criminal Justice Liaison Committee, Chairperson, 2002 – 2004
• Community Outreach Committee, Desert Judicial District, 1999 – 2006
• Jury Committee, 1997 – 2002
• Superior Court Appellate Department, 1997 – 2001
• Court Security Committee, 1997 – 2002
• Grand Jury Committee, 2000 – 2001

ACTIVITIES, AFFILIATIONS AND AWARDS

• 2008 California Bench-Bar Coalition Judicial Officer of the Year
• 2007 Martin Luther King Award – Mid-Valley Interfaith Council
• 2006 American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA) Inland County Trial Judge of the Year

JUDICIAL TEACHING EXPERIENCE

• Adjunct Professor of Law, University of LaVerne, School of Law, 2010 – present
• Brigham Young University, School of Law, Trial Advocacy Program, Lecturer, 2004
• Orrin G. Hatch Distinguished Trial Lawyer Program, Vice Chair 2004 – present
• Civil Law Institute, Civil Case Management, 2003, 2004
• Miscellaneous Migraines, 2004
• Judicial College, Civil Case Management, 2003, 2004
• Presiding Judges Orientation, instructor/facilitator, 2003, 2004
• Case Management Orientation Programs-Santa Ana and San Francisco, 2001
• Coachella Valley Leadership Conference, 2001 – 2003
• Class II – Government, Law Enforcement and the Judicial System

COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES

• Center for Excellence in Advocacy, University of LaVerne, School of Law, Board of Directors, 2009 – present
• Literacy 21, Executive Director, 2008 – present
• Boys and Girls Club of America, National Area Council Committee, 2010 – present
• Jeremiah Milbank National Gold Medallion Award recipient, 2016
• Boys and Girls Club of Coachella Valley
• President, 2008 – present
• Board Member, 2003 – present
• Secretary, 2004 – 2007
• East African Breast Cancer Project, Board of Directors, 2007 – present
• Teach the Teachers Program for Coachella Valley School Districts, 2001 – present
• First Impressions Program, Oasis School, Thermal, California 1999 – present
• YMCA, Youth and Government, Desert Family, Palm Desert, CA, 1999 – present
• Bench/Bar/Media Group, Indio, California, Founding Member, 1998 – 2006
• Desert Judges Speakers Bureau, 1998 – 2006
• Warren E. Slaughter American Inn of Court, Palm Springs, California
• Founding Member; Board of Directors 1997 – present
• President 1999 – 2002
• Desert Bar Association
• Trustee, 1990 – 1995
• President, 1995
• Statewide Advisor to Trial Courts Program, 2004 – 2006
• Government In Action Program, Indio, California, Founding Member

Statewide Judicial Committees:
Judicial Council Technology Committee, Chair

• Advisory Member of Judicial Council

Trial Court Presiding Judges Advisory Committee, Chair, September 2014 to September 2015

Commission on the Future of the California Court System

• Executive Committee Member

Trial Court Presiding Judges Advisory Committee, Vice-Chair, September 2013 to 2014

Trial Court Presiding Judges Executive Committee

• Trial Court Budget Advisory Committee
• Funding Methodology Subcommittee Member
• Co-Chair of Revenue and Expenditure Subcommittee

Trial Court Presiding Judges Liaison to the Judicial Council Technology Committee, 2012 to 2014

Task Force on Trial Court Fiscal Accountability

Technology Planning Task Force

• Lead of the Funding Track of the Technology Task Force

Prior Judicial Assignments: 
September 2012 to December 31, 2015 – Presiding Judge for San Bernardino County Superior Court

October 2007 to December 2010 – Presiding Judge of the Juvenile Court (Dependency & Delinquency); Criminal and Civil

Appointment/Election:  
Appointed by Governor Gray Davis in August 2003 (Oath taken August 22, 2003)
– elected in 2006 and 2012 unopposed

Education: 
Juris Doctor (1986) – Whittier College School of Law, Whittier, CA; B.A. (1980) Ottawa University, Ottawa, KS

Memberships/Awards:

• Inland Empire Latino Lawyers Association Judge of Justice Award 2015
• Kaufman-Campbell Award 2014 (San Bernardino County Bar Association)
• American Board of Trial Advocates
• Trial Judge of the Year 2013
• San Bernardino Associated Government Justice Award 2013
• California Probation, Parole and Correctional Association Judicial Award 2010

NAME: Art W. McKinster

POSITION: Associate Justice, Court of Appeal, Fourth Appellate District, Division Two

PERSONAL: Married to a retired special education teacher. Two adult daughters

EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND

• Juris Doctorate Degree, University of California, Hastings College of the Law.
• Bachelor of Science Degree with honors in Business Administration, University of Southern California.

PROFESSIONAL BACKGROUND

• Deputy District Attorney, San Bernardino County.  Trial lawyer prosecuting major felony crimes including numerous homicides.
• Supervising Deputy District Attorney, San Bernardino County.  In charge of operations for the Central Municipal Court District and four Justice Courts.
• Chief Deputy District Attorney.  In charge of the Ontario and Chino offices, supervising 22 attorneys and the secretarial and clerical staff.
• Judge, San Bernardino County Municipal Court.
• Judge, San Bernardino County Superior Court.  Served as Presiding Judge of Juvenile Court for 2 years.
• Associate Justice, Fourth Appellate District, Division Two.  Nominated by the Governor and confirmed by the Commission on Judicial Nominees.
• Served as an Associate Justice, pro tempore, California Supreme Court.

PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES

• California District Attorneys Association.
• California Judges Association.
• San Bernardino County Bar Association, presently an honorary member.
• California Commission on Judicial Performance, served as Presiding Master in the Commission's inquiry into allegations of ethical misconduct by a Superior Court judge.
• Judicial Council's Task Force on the Appellate Process, member.
• Judicial Council's Library Technology Committee, past member.
• University of La Verne College of Law, Judge, moot court competitions.
• Instructor in criminal law and procedure, San Bernardino County Sheriff's Academy.

COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES

• Ontario Rotary Club, member and vice-president.
• Home of Neighborly Service, a community service organization, board member.
• San Bernardino Valley Community Concert Association, board member and vice-president.
• San Bernardino City Commissions:  Bureau of Franchises, member; Animal Advisory Commission, member.
• Pacific High School, San Bernardino, California, Coach of the mock trial team.
• San Bernardino County Mock Trial Finals Competition, Judge.
• Lay Person of the Year, Phi Delta Kappa educational fraternity, award for contributions to youth education.
• Tachikawa, Japan, Sister City Student Exchange Program, board member.
• Church:  Administrative Council, present chair; Endowment Fund, past chair; Staff Relations Committee, past chair; Finance Committee, past chair.

MILITARY

• ROTC military science classes, University of California at Berkeley.
• Commissioned, second lieutenant U.S. Army Reserve, Field Artillery.  Captain, 426th Civil Affairs Company, Upland, California, 8 years’ service.
• Judge Advocate General's School, University of Virginia.  Branch transfer to JAG Corps after completion of studies.

Justice Richard T. Fields presided in the courts of Riverside County for twenty six years prior to his appointment and subsequent confirmation to the Court of Appeal on February 9, 2017.  During the years 2007 and 2008, Justice Fields served as the Presiding Judge of the entire Riverside County Court System.  Prior to his appointment as a judge of the superior court, Justice Fields served as a court commissioner for over nine years.  When selected as a commissioner in 1991, Justice Fields became the first African-American jurist in the history of Riverside County.  In April 2000, Justice Fields became the first African-American judge in Riverside County.

During his time on the superior court bench, he presided over a number of criminal calendars and scores of misdemeanor and felony jury trials including numerous murder cases--both capital and non-capital.  Additionally, he handled a civil trial calendar and presided over a variety of civil trials including medical, legal and dental malpractice actions, personal injury lawsuits and wrongful death cases.

During his career, Justice Fields has received numerous awards and commendations.   Most notably, in 2007, he received the Southwest Bar Association’s Judge of the Year award.  In 2008, he was named as Judge of the Year by the Riverside-San Bernardino Chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates.  In June 2009, he received the Outstanding Jurist Award from the Leo A. Deegan Inn of Court.  In 2013, he received the Alba Witkin Humanitarian Award from the California Judges Association.  He also been honored for judicial excellence by the California Association of Black Lawyers and the 100 Black Men of the Inland Empire. In 2016, he was named the Leo A. Deegan Inn of Court Douglass E. Weathers Distinguished Honoree and received the Champions of Justice Award from Fair Housing Council of Riverside County Inc. In 2017, he received the California Association of Black Lawyers Judicial Section South’s prestigious Black Gavel Award.

Justice Fields has dedicated his life to community service.  As a member and past president of the Riverside Sunrise Rotary Club, he has been involved in mentoring students, assisting with major immunization drives, assisting at the Inland Aids Walk, sending students to leadership camp, participating in a “lunch buddy” program where he has met special elementary students for lunchtime fellowship.   Justice Fields has also served as a mock trial judge for over 23 years, spoken at hundreds of community events and served as president of the Leo A. Deegan Inn of Court.

Justice Fields graduated with honors from the California State University, Fullerton in January 1981, receiving the degree of Bachelor of Arts with a major in Sociology and a minor in Spanish. He completed his bachelor’s degree in only 3 ½ years.  He received the degree of Juris Doctor from Western State University College of Law in May 1983. He completed his law degree in just 2 ½ years.  While at Western State, he was on the Honor Roll, named to Who’s Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges, named to Outstanding Young Men of America, named to the National Dean’s List, was an Honor’s Moot Court advocate, served as a “Don” program mentor and received a letter of commendation for outstanding service on the Law Review. Justice Fields was also awarded the degree of Master of Laws in Taxation from the University of San Diego School of Law in December 1987.

Justice Fields has been often heard to say, “it’s never too difficult, it’s never too late and you are never too old” to accomplish your dreams. Justice Fields is married with two children.