Riverside Superior Judge Jacqueline Jackson began her two-year term as presiding judge on Jan. 1. Judge Dean Benjamini is assistant presiding judge.
Presiding judges are elected by a court’s judges. They are responsible for leading the court’s judges, establishing policies and allocating resources in a fair manner. They assign judges to their departments, act as the court’s spokesperson, authorize and direct expenditures, and assign cases to departments.
Jackson is the the court’s first African-American woman to serve as presiding judge, the court announced.
Jackson joined the bar in 1996. She prosecuted in Los Angeles, handling child abuse and sexual assault cases. She joined the Riverside
