Attorney Jaya Badiga will join the Sacramento County Superior Court as one of its three newest judges. She was appointed to the position by Governor Gavin Newsom and is set to fill the vacancy created after the retirement of Robert S. Lapham in 2022.
Badiga is the first Telegu judge to serve, not just in California, but in the U.S. as a whole. Before taking her oath, she chanted verses in Sanskrit.
“This is wishing you all a heartfelt welcome in my native language, Telegu, spoken by 80 million plus people worldwide, and the first time Telegu has been spoken in such an occasion in Sacramento’s Superior Court”.
Badiga was born in Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh in India and completed her early education in Hyderabad. She then earned her Juris Doctor degree from the Santa Clara University School of Law, and her Master of Arts degree in International Relations and International Communications from Boston University.
Badiga most recently served as a Commissioner at the Sacramento County Superior Court, starting in 2022. Badiga has a decade of experience working in family law and is a certified family law specialist.
In 2018, she began a stint in state government first with the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services and then as an attorney at the California Department of Health Care Services in 2020.
From 2013 to 2018, Badiga worked as the managing attorney at WEAVE Inc., an organization dedicated to supporting survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault.
Badiga’s appointment was a part of a larger appointment of 18 Superior Court Judges throughout California by Newsom.
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