SLO County woman appointed to a California appellate court
August 8, 2026
Judge Denise Hippach
By KAREN VELIE
California Governor Gavin Newsom on Friday announced the appointment of San Luis Obispo County resident and Santa Barbara County Superior Court Judge Denise Hippach to a state appellate court.
After only four years as a judge, Hippach was awarded the role of associate justice of the Second District Court of Appeal, according to a governor’s office news release. Newsom appointed Hippach to the Division 6 branch of the appellate court, which is located in Ventura.
The Commission on Judicial Appointments must still confirm Hippach’s appointment for it to take effect. State Attorney General Attorney General Rob Bonta is a member of the three-person commission.
Like Newsom and Bonta, Hippach is a Democrat.
The judge earned her law degree from the University of Southern California Gould School of Law. Hippach worked as an attorney with the Santa Barbara County Counsel’s Office from 2018 to 2022. In addition, she served as a deputy attorney general at the Idaho Attorney General’s Office from 2015 to 2018.
Hippach is slated to fill the vacancy created by the elevation of Justice Tari Cody to presiding justice.
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