Hon. Patricia L. Kelly

Presiding Judge, Superior Court of Santa Barbara County
Current Term: September 15, 2025−September 14, 2026
Membership: Advisory Member
Internal Committee: Executive and Planning Committee

Judge Patricia L. Kelly was appointed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to the Superior Court of Santa Barbara County in 2010 and currently serves as presiding judge of the court. Before her current role, she served a previous term as presiding judge and assistant presiding judge and has been active in other leadership roles within the court, including supervising criminal judge and executive committee member. Judge Kelly chairs the Judicial Council’s Trial Court Presiding Judges Advisory Committee and its Executive Committee. She also serves as a member of the Court Facilities Advisory Committee and the Trial Court Budget Advisory Committee and has served as cochair and faculty for the Presiding Judge and Court Executive Officer Court Management Institute. Prior to the bench, Judge Kelly served as a deputy district attorney for the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office assigned to serious and violent gang and major narcotic cases, including multidefendant homicide cases. She received her juris doctor degree from Pepperdine University School of Law.