Regional judicial office
2026 retention electionAssociate Justice, First District Court of Appeal, Division Two
Current officeholder
Tara M. Desautels
Justice Tara M. Desautels currently serves in the San Francisco-based court unit. The Secretary of State lists the next retention vote for November 3, 2026.
- Court
- First District Court of Appeal, Division Two
- Electorate
- First Appellate District voters
- Court location
- San Francisco
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The gold map shows the appellate district service area used for this retention vote.
Office overview
What voters are deciding
The office, electorate, and court jurisdiction are separate from the record of the person currently holding the office.
Next scheduled vote
Listed for the 2026 general election, pending certification
Yes or No retention vote
A Yes vote retains the justice in office. A No vote means the justice is not retained in the office.
- Current term listed ending
- January 8, 2035
- Official note
- The Secretary of State schedule lists this term ending January 8, 2035. The page will be updated after candidate certification.
Current officeholder
Tara M. Desautels
The official court profile and state election schedule identify this justice as the current officeholder. The appointing officeholder is shown from the linked public appointment record.
- Role
- Associate Justice
- Official profile
- Since 2024
- Oath date
- May 14, 2024
- Term listed ending
- January 8, 2035
- Appointed by
- Gavin NewsomGovernor of California, 2024.View appointment source ↗
General jurisdiction
Types of matters this court hears
These categories describe the court’s work, not a current assignment list for one justice.
Civil appeals
Reviews appealable judgments and orders from superior court civil cases.
Criminal appeals
Reviews criminal judgments and specified post-judgment orders from superior courts.
Family and juvenile appeals
Reviews appealable orders in family, dependency, and delinquency matters.
Original writ proceedings
Considers petitions asking the appellate court for extraordinary relief.
Court colleagues
Other members of this court
Cases are ordinarily decided by three-justice panels drawn from this court unit.
Presiding Justice
Therese M. Stewart
Since 2014Paper Trail Politics pageOpen judge page →Associate Justice
James A. Richman
Since 2006Paper Trail Politics pageOpen judge page →Associate Justice
Marla J. Miller
Since 2014Paper Trail Politics pageOpen judge page →Roster reviewed · Official current justices roster ↗
Past judicial record
Selected authored opinions
A small, subject-diverse set of published majority opinions authored by the justice. This is a reading list, not a rating or complete opinion count.
Russian Riverkeeper v. County of Sonoma
Majority opinion by Desautels
The court upheld Sonoma County's public-trust analysis for a groundwater-well ordinance but held that the county lacked substantial evidence for its claimed exemptions from environmental review.
ResultJudgment affirmed in part and reversed in part; case remanded
Read the court record ↗Quinn v. Coulton
Majority opinion by Desautels
The court held that strict liability for loss of lateral land support requires excavation activity. It separately struck expert-witness costs awarded under an offer to compromise.
ResultJudgment affirmed; expert-fee award reversed in part
Read the court record ↗Kumar v. Mid-Century Insurance Company
Majority opinion by Desautels
The court held that a property owner's claims were barred by the policy's one-year filing deadline and that later exchanges of information did not reopen the claim or extend the deadline.
ResultJudgment affirmed
Read the court record ↗Public court records
Calendar, dockets, and opinions
Calendars show scheduled court proceedings, not a personalized list of cases assigned to this justice. This page does not publish an active-case feed.
Oral argument calendar
See the First District’s published oral argument calendar.
Open calendar ↗Appellate case information
Search Supreme Court and Court of Appeal records by case number or party name.
Search cases ↗Published and unpublished opinions
Browse the Judicial Branch opinion archive and search by court or case number.
Browse opinions ↗Public accountability
Judicial discipline
Public accountability records from California’s Commission on Judicial Performance.
Public decisions foundNo public discipline decision located
Search: Tara Desautels, all court levels · reviewed
The CJP public decisions database returned 0 records for this exact-name search across all court levels.
Important limit: The database covers public judicial disciplinary cases since 1960. Matters without public charges or public discipline remain confidential, so a zero-result search should not be read more broadly.
News and Press Releases
Updates involving this office
Relevant coverage will be added only after each story and image passes review.
News and press-release review in progress
Stories will appear after relevance, publication date, source quality, summary, and a usable story image have been verified. No absence of coverage should be inferred from this draft.
Methodology and limits
Data coverage and sources
Coverage is assessed against the records expected for this judicial office page and is updated as new public information is verified.
Current assessmentResearch draft
The office identity, election schedule, court structure, official profile, portrait, colleague roster, and public-record access links have passed the initial source gate.
- Verified nowOfficeholder, role, court, oath date, term endpoint
- Verified nowBench size, retention schedule, official biography and portrait
- Verified nowNamed appointing officeholder and linked appointment source
- Verified nowExact-name public discipline search and confidentiality limit
- Verified nowThree years of court- or division-wide workload statistics
- Verified nowThree selected published majority opinions and neutral summaries
- In progressRelevant news and press-release review
This draft is not yet cleared for publication. It does not imply that an unfinished section has no records.
Sources used on this page4 source organizations · 16 records
California Secretary of State
2 records from this source are used on the page.
Judicial elections and terms schedule: Next retention date, current term endpoint, court roster, and 2026 pre-certification listingshttps://elections.cdn.sos.ca.gov/statewide-elections/2026-primary/election-guide/section-05-supreme-appellate-courts.pdf2026 general election key dates: Expected date for the certified candidate listhttps://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/upcoming-elections/general-election-november-3-2026/key-dates-deadlines
California Courts of Appeal
3 records from this source are used on the page.
Official biography: Court identity and biography pagehttps://appellate.courts.ca.gov/district-courts/1dca/bio/tara-m-desautelsOfficial current justices roster: Court membership and official portrait sourcehttps://appellate.courts.ca.gov/district-courts/1dca/justicesOral argument calendar: See the First District’s published oral argument calendar.https://appellate.courts.ca.gov/district-courts/1dca/oral-argument-calendar
Judicial Council of California
9 records from this source are used on the page.
Judicial selection and retention: Official overview of California judicial selection and retentionhttps://newsroom.courts.ca.gov/branch-facts/judicial-selection-how-california-chooses-its-judges-and-justicesAppellate case information: Search Supreme Court and Court of Appeal records by case number or party name.https://appellatecases.courtinfo.ca.gov/Published and unpublished opinions: Browse the Judicial Branch opinion archive and search by court or case number.https://courts.ca.gov/opinionsJudicial Council 2026 Court Statistics Report, table 3: First Appellate District, fiscal year 2024–25https://courts.ca.gov/system/files/file/csr_2026.pdfJudicial Council 2025 Court Statistics Report, table 3: First Appellate District, fiscal year 2023–24https://courts.ca.gov/system/files/file/final_csr_2025.pdfJudicial Council 2024 Court Statistics Report, table 3: First Appellate District, fiscal year 2022–23https://courts.ca.gov/sites/default/files/courts/default/2024-12/2024-court-statistics-report.pdfOfficial California Court of Appeal opinion: Russian Riverkeeper v. County of Sonoma, A172760https://www.courts.ca.gov/opinions/documents/A172760.PDFOfficial California Court of Appeal opinion: Quinn v. Coulton, A172217https://www.courts.ca.gov/opinions/documents/A172217.PDFOfficial California Court of Appeal opinion: Kumar v. Mid-Century Insurance Company, A173097https://www.courts.ca.gov/opinions/documents/A173097.PDF
Commission on Judicial Performance
2 records from this source are used on the page.
Discipline and decision search: Official public judicial discipline database and confidentiality limitshttps://cjp.ca.gov/discipline_and_decision_search/Exact-name public discipline search: The CJP public decisions database returned 0 records for this exact-name search across all court levels.https://cjp.ca.gov/discipline-decisions-database-results/?wpv_view_count=106760&wpv-wpcf-last_name=Desautels&wpv-wpcf-first_name=Tara&wpv-wpcf-discipline=&wpv-wpcf-misconduct_type=&wpv-wpcf-county_appellate_district=&wpv-wpcf-court_level=&wpv-wpcf-decision_date_min=&wpv-wpcf-decision_date_min-format=m%2Fd%2FY&wpv-wpcf-decision_date_max=&wpv-wpcf-decision_date_max-format=m%2Fd%2FY&wpv_filter_submit=Submit
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