Heather Durand appointed by Newsom finally to fill judge vacancy in Humboldt Superior Court

 

You read it here first.

Humboldt Deputy County Counsel Heather Durand has been appointed by California Governor Gavin Newsom for the vacancy after Humboldt Superior Court Retired Judge Joyce Hinrichs retired. I was the only one to reported on her and other potential candidates for months and years.

I  reached out to Humboldt Superior Court CEO Meara Hattan and Humboldt Superior Court Presiding Judge Kelly Neel on 8/25/26 with a question and will be adding any response I receive.

Ms. Hattan responded, "Good morning John- we expect that she will start before January.  We are pleased to have Ms. Durand join the bench."

Judge Neel responded, "Good morning,

We are all very happy and excited to welcome Ms. Durand to our Bench; we rec’d the announcement the same time everyone else did, so we do have some planning to do.

I do anticipate her joining us before January but that’s one of the details we will be working out with Ms. Durand as she wraps up things with her current employer."

From California Governor Gavin Newsom's Press Office:

Heather Durand, of Humboldt County, has been appointed to serve as a Judge in the Humboldt County Superior Court. Durand has served as a Deputy County Counsel at the Humboldt County Counsel’s Office since 2018. She worked as a Sole Practitioner at the Law Office of Heather Durand Cooper from 2005 to 2018. Durand worked as an Associate Attorney at Dalton & Bicknell from 2000 to 2005. Durand received a Juris Doctor degree from Empire College School of Law. She fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Joyce D. Hinrichs. Durand is a Democrat.