County judicial office
2026 primary resultOrange County Superior Court Judge, Office 41
Current officeholder
Ami S. Sagel
Orange County voters reelected Judge Ami S. Sagel to a full term after she received a majority in the June 2026 primary.
- Court
- Superior Court of California, County of Orange
- Electorate
- Orange County voters
- Court location
- Courthouses throughout Orange County
i
The election was countywide. Office 41 identifies this position on the 2026 ballot and should not be read as Sagel's courtroom department.
Office overview
What voters are deciding
The office, electorate, and court jurisdiction are separate from the record of the person currently holding the seat.
Next scheduled vote
2026 election decided at the June primary
Nonpartisan candidate election
The certified primary result determined who will serve the next term. Candidate profiles and vote details are maintained on the separate election page.
- Full term
- 6 years
- Official note
- The elected term begins in January 2027. Office 41 is an election-cycle identifier, not a permanent courtroom number.
Current officeholder
Ami S. Sagel
Judge Sagel has served on the Orange County Superior Court since 2023. The court's current judicial officer directory places her on the Family Law Panel in Department L72 at the Lamoreaux Justice Center. Before joining the bench, she was a sole practitioner, an Assistant U.S. Attorney, and a law-firm associate.
- Current assignment
- Family Law Panel, Department L72
- Superior Court
- Serving since 2023
- Prior public service
- Assistant U.S. Attorney, 2009 to 2015
- Education
- Claremont McKenna College; University of Chicago Law School
- Appointed by
- Gavin NewsomGovernor of California, 2023Governor Newsom appointment announcement ↗
General jurisdiction
Types of matters this court hears
These categories describe the published Department L72 calendar and the court's family-law jurisdiction. They do not identify the private details of current cases or imply an individualized workload count.
Divorce and legal separation
Handles dissolution, separation, property division, support, and related requests for orders.
Child custody and support
Handles custody, visitation, parentage, child support, and related evidentiary hearings.
Domestic violence
Handles requests for domestic violence restraining orders and related family-law proceedings.
Adoption and termination matters
Handles assigned adoption, parental-rights, guardianship-related, and other family proceedings.
Court colleagues
Other members of this court
Superior Court judges generally preside individually. These selected Family Law Panel colleagues are shown to help readers move among judges working in the same court as pages are completed.
Judge, Family Law Panel
Eileen M. Solis
Department L71Profile not published yetPage plannedJudge, Family Law Panel
Mena Guirguis
Department L73Profile not published yetPage plannedJudge, Family Law Panel
Glenn R. Salter
Department L64Profile not published yetPage plannedJudge, Family Law Panel
Cheri T. Pham
Department L66Profile not published yetPage plannedRoster reviewed · Orange County Superior Court judicial officer directory ↗
Public office record
Selected public record
Family-law files can contain confidential, sealed, or remotely restricted material, and the public record does not support a representative case-history sample for Judge Sagel. These three dated records document her appointment, current assignment, and continuing judicial service. They are not a rating or a list of current cases.
Appointment to the Orange County Superior Court
Appointed judicial officeholder
Governor Gavin Newsom appointed Sagel after her work as a sole practitioner, Assistant U.S. Attorney, and law-firm associate.
ResultAppointed to fill the vacancy created by Judge Claudia Silbar's retirement
Read the appointment record ↗Current family-law assignment
Current officeholder listed on the court's family-law panel
The Orange County court directory places Sagel on the Family Law Panel at the Lamoreaux Justice Center.
ResultAssigned to Department L72
Review the court schedule ↗Current statewide judicial roster
Current officeholder listed on the statewide Superior Court judges roster
The statewide roster confirms Sagel's continuing service on the Orange County Superior Court independently of the election record.
ResultCurrent service verified
Review the judicial roster ↗Public court records
Calendar, dockets, and opinions
The court directory places Judge Sagel in Department L72 on the Family Law Panel. Public calendars and tentative rulings may show scheduled matters, but family-law access is restricted for some records. This page does not create an active-case feed or list cases a judge is currently working on.
Orange County cases on calendar
Search the court's public calendar by case number, date, courtroom, or hearing type, subject to access limits.
View calendars ↗Orange County case access
Open case-access routes for civil, criminal, family, probate, and small claims matters. Some family documents are not available remotely.
Search case records ↗Family-law tentative rulings
Read tentative rulings posted by participating Orange County family-law departments before scheduled hearings.
Browse tentative rulings ↗Public accountability
Judicial discipline
Public accountability records from California’s Commission on Judicial Performance.
Public decisions foundNo public discipline decision located
Search: Ami Sagel, 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
Read reviewed reporting, interviews, and the official appointment announcement involving this judicial office and its current officeholder. Follow each story to its source.
Independent professional profile
Re-elected Judge Ami Sagel on guiding families through court
The profile covers Sagel's family-law assignment, career history, approach to family cases, and certified reelection result.
Independent interview
Family law, judicial ethics, and the human side of justice
In a long-form podcast interview recorded during the election, Sagel discusses family court, judicial ethics, discretion, and the responsibilities of the office.
Official appointment announcement
Governor Newsom announces Orange County judicial appointment
The official announcement names Gavin Newsom as the appointing officeholder and summarizes Sagel's legal experience and education.
About independent coverage: These articles were selected by Paper Trail Politics to document reporting connected to the officeholder's public record.
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 assessmentFocused coverage
This page connects the current officeholder, certified 2026 election result, selected public office records, court-wide filing statistics, public access tools, discipline search, and reviewed coverage.
- Public record
- Three dated public office milestones; family-law privacy and remote-access restrictions prevent a representative case-history claim.
- Statistics
- Court- or division-wide context only; not an individualized workload measure.
- Discipline
- Exact-name public-decision search; confidential complaints or proceedings are not visible.
This is a focused voter reading list, not a complete case history, ideology score, individualized workload measure, or representation of confidential discipline matters.
Sources used on this page7 source organizations · 19 records
Office of Governor Gavin Newsom
Orange County Registrar of Voters
3 records from this source are used on the page.
Orange County certified election results: Certified June 2, 2026 result and countywide vote totalshttps://ocvote.gov/fileadmin/live/pri2026/final/cumulative.pdfOrange County candidate proof list: Official candidate list establishing the Office 41 election record; candidate profiles are maintained on the election pagehttps://ocvote.gov/fileadmin/user_upload/data/candlog/PRI2026/candlog.pdfOrange County notice of election: Official notice identifying 49 Superior Court offices eligible for the 2026 primaryhttps://ocvote.gov/elections/notice-of-election-2026-statewide-direct-primary-election
Commission on Judicial Performance
2 records from this source are used on the page.
Exact-name public decision search: Ami Sagel, all court levelshttps://cjp.ca.gov/discipline-decisions-database-results/?wpv_view_count=106760&wpv-wpcf-last_name=Sagel&wpv-wpcf-first_name=Ami&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=SubmitCJP discipline and decision search: Official database and confidentiality explanationhttps://cjp.ca.gov/discipline_and_decision_search/
Orange County Superior Court
7 records from this source are used on the page.
Orange County Superior Court judicial officer directory: Current court colleague rosterhttps://www.occourts.org/general-information/judicial-officersCurrent family-law assignment: Public appointment, court, or election record Department L72https://www.occourts.org/divisions/family-law/family-law-calendar-information/family-law-courtroom-schedule-requirementsOrange County cases on calendar: Search the court's public calendar by case number, date, courtroom, or hearing type, subject to access limits.https://www.occourts.org/online-services/cases-calendarOrange County case access: Open case-access routes for civil, criminal, family, probate, and small claims matters. Some family documents are not available remotely.https://www.occourts.org/online-services/case-accessFamily-law tentative rulings: Read tentative rulings posted by participating Orange County family-law departments before scheduled hearings.https://www.occourts.org/online-services/tentative-rulings/family-law-tentative-rulingsFamily Law Records: Official access guidance for family-law files and copieshttps://www.occourts.org/divisions/family-law/family-law-recordsRemote access notice: Official explanation of records that cannot be made available remotely, including confidential or sealed mattershttps://www.occourts.org/system/files/remote_access_notice_d3.pdf
Judicial Council of California
4 records from this source are used on the page.
Judicial Council 2026 Court Statistics Report, tables 4a, 7a, and 11a: Orange County Superior Court, fiscal year 2024–25https://courts.ca.gov/system/files/file/csr_2026.pdfJudicial Council 2025 Court Statistics Report, tables 4a, 7a, and 11a: Orange County Superior Court, fiscal year 2023–24https://courts.ca.gov/system/files/file/final_csr_2025.pdfJudicial Council 2024 Court Statistics Report, tables 4a, 7a, and 11a: Orange County Superior Court, fiscal year 2022–23https://courts.ca.gov/sites/default/files/courts/default/2024-12/2024-court-statistics-report.pdfCurrent statewide judicial roster: Public appointment, court, or election record Judicial Council rosterhttps://courts.ca.gov/courts/superior-courts/judges-roster
OrangeCountyLawyers.com
1 record from this source is used on the page.
Powerful Ladies
1 record from this source is used on the page.
See something that may be wrong?
Find an Error?
Report the exact page, fact, relationship, or source so Paper Trail Politics can review it.