Governor Gavin Newsom on Thursday announced the appointment of Isabel Apkarian as a judge in the Orange County Superior Court.

Apkarian, 44, of Newport Beach, has served as a Commissioner at the Orange County Superior Court since 2021, the governor’s press office said.

She served as Senior Deputy Public Defender at the Orange County Public Defender’s Office from 2003 to 2020. She was a Budget Management Research Analyst in the Orange County Executive’s Office from 1998 to 1999.

Apkarian earned a Juris Doctor degree from Whittier Law School. She fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Franz E. Miller.

Apkarian is one of 18 judges appointed on Thursday by Newsom to serve in the superior courts of several California counties.