Steven J. Jahr

Judge Steven Jahr was the first and only Administrative Director with judicial experience, coming out of a three-year retirement from the Superior Court of Shasta County to take this leadership role during a time of unprecedented challenge for the judicial branch.

Jahr worked with Chief Justice Cantil-Sakauye to secure critically needed reinvestment in California’s court system and promote transparency and accountability in judicial branch funding and operations—with ongoing self-assessment—and to unify council members and their staff under a single name, the Judicial Council of California.

Jahr retired from the Shasta County bench in 2009 after a stellar career in both the municipal and superior courts. He served on the Judicial Council from 1998–2001 and chaired the Task Force on Trial Court Funding and the Trial Court Budget Commission to address issues underlying the chronic underfunding of the trial courts. The work of the commission resulted in the court system’s first consolidated trial court budget proposal.

“The budget commission was also tasked with dealing with sensitive political issues between the courts,” Jahr said in 2008. “Several courts had strong relationships within their financially strong counties. They were not dependent on the state and were not enthused about having their operations funded at the state level. At the same time the majority of the courts were in difficult straits, and some were in dire straits. A commission composed mainly of trial court judges was essential to provide local courts an avenue for venting their concerns."

In 2026, Jahr continues to serve as a chair of the Trial Court Workload Funding Workgroup, appointed by current Administrative Director Shelley Curran, to evaluate and improve how the workload funding needs of the trial courts are determined. He also serves as a member of the Court Facilities Advisory Committee, which helps guide the judicial branch’s capital program for the trial and appellate courts.