Hon. Michael Rhoads

Judge, Superior Court of San Francisco County
Current Term: September 15, 2025−September 14, 2028
Membership: Voting Member
Internal Committees: Judicial Branch Budget Committee, Rules Committee

Judge Michael Rhoads was appointed to the Superior Court of San Francisco County in December 2022 by Governor Gavin Newsom. He currently sits in a criminal trial department and oversees the court’s criminal domestic violence calendar. He previously was assigned to a felony pre-trial and preliminary hearings calendar department.   

Prior to being appointed to the bench, Judge Rhoads was a chambers attorney for former Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye at the California Supreme Court, and a Deputy Legal Affairs Secretary for Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. He previously worked at the California Attorney General’s Office and the San Diego District Attorney’s Office.

Judge Rhoads has served as faculty and prepared educational materials for the Judicial Council’s Center for Judicial Education and Resources for a variety of subject matters, including criminal sentencing, pretrial release, and preliminary hearings. He has been an adjunct professor at the University of San Diego School of Law, McGeorge School of Law, and University of California College of the Law, San Francisco. Judge Rhoads has also served on several local and national bar association committees. He received his bachelor’s degree from Santa Clara University and a juris doctor degree from George Washington University Law School.