Michelle Curran

Michelle Curran became Administrative Director for the Judicial Council in 2024. Curran has more than two decades of experience working on public policy with all three branches of government in California, including 17 years with the judicial branch. Before her appointment as Administrative Director, she served as the council’s Chief Policy and Research Officer and Director of Criminal Justice Services. Throughout her tenure with the council, Curran has led major policy reforms for the judicial branch that include remote court proceedings, pretrial detention, evidence-based practices in sentencing, recidivism reduction, ability-to-pay determinations for fines and fees, and the Community Assistance, Recovery, and Empowerment (CARE) Act. She also served as lead staff for multiple council and Chief Justice workgroups, including helping to institutionalize changes and best practices in our court system based on lessons learned from the pandemic. Before joining the council, she was the principal consultant to two successive California Senate Presidents pro Tempore, advising Senate leadership on legislative agendas regarding the judiciary, criminal justice, civil rights, and consumer rights. On behalf of the President pro Tempore, she was also responsible for negotiating and drafting priority legislation involving judicial branch budgets, courthouse construction, and juvenile justice reform.

“A functioning judiciary is core to a functioning democracy,” Curran said after becoming the Administrative Director. “In a democracy, we debate facts, we seek to solve problems, and we legislate solutions, all within a set of rules. And it’s our branch that makes sure that we are operating within that set of rules. Most fundamentally, our expectation, hope, and drive is equal access to justice.” Curran embraces innovation and change to support the mission of the judiciary into the future and considers collaborative partnerships between the council and the courts and between the judicial branch and its sister branches of government essential for California’s court system to fulfill its public service responsibilities.