List of first women lawyers and judges in Arizona

This is a list of the first women lawyer(s) and judge(s) in Arizona. It includes the year in which the women were admitted to practice law (in parentheses). Also included are women who achieved other distinctions such becoming the first in their state to obtain a law degree or become a political figure.

Firsts in state history
Sarah Herring Sorin: First female lawyer in Arizona (1892)
Janet Napolitano: First female Attorney General for Arizona (1999)
Diane Humetewa: First Native American (Hopi) female Judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona (2014)

Lawyers
  • Sarah Herring Sorin (1892):[1] First female lawyer in Arizona
  • Mary Estella Cota-Robles (1940):[2] First Hispanic American female lawyer in Arizona
  • Jean Williams (1949):[3][4] First African American female lawyer in Arizona
  • Sarah D. Grant:[5] First female to serve as the Chief Staff Attorney for the Supreme Court of Arizona
  • Martha Blue (1967):[6] First female lawyer to start a law practice on an Arizona Indian Reservation and serve as general counsel to the Havasupai
  • Roxanne Song Ong (1979):[7][8] First Asian American female lawyer in Arizona
Justice of the Peace
  • Nellie T. Bush and Emeline Ferguson:[9] First females elected as Justices of the Peace in Arizona (1914)
  • Pamela Gutierrez:[10] First African American female elected as a Justice of the Peace in Arizona (1994)
Judges
  • Gertrude Converse:[11] First female to run for county superior court judge in Arizona (1948). Her efforts were unsuccessful.
  • Lorna E. Lockwood (1925):[12] First female appointed as a Judge of the Arizona Superior Court (1950)
  • Anita Lewis Chávez (1947):[4][13][14] Reputed to be the first Latino American female judge in Arizona
  • Jean Williams (1949):[3][4] First African American female judge in Arizona (1977)
  • Roxanne Song Ong (1979):[7][8] First Asian American female judge in Arizona (c. 1986)
Appellate Court
  • Mary M. Schroeder:[15] First female to serve as a Judge of the Arizona Court of Appeals (1975)
  • Patricia A. Orozco (1989):[16][17] First Latino American female appointed as a Judge of the Arizona Court of Appeals (2004)
Supreme Court
  • Lorna E. Lockwood (1925):[12] First female appointed as a Chief Justice of the Arizona Supreme Court (1970)
Tribal Court
District Court
  • Mary H. Murguia (1985):[19] First Latino American female appointed as a Judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona (2000)
  • Diane Humetewa (1993):[20][21][22][23] First Native American (Hopi) female appointed as a Judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona (2014)

Attorney General

Assistant Attorney General

United States Attorney
  • Mary Anne Richey (née Reimann):[2][26] First female to serve as the U.S. Attorney for Arizona (1960)
  • Diane Humetewa (1993):[20][21][22][23] First Native American (Hopi) female to serve as a United States Attorney for the District of Arizona (2007)

Assistant United States Attorney
  • Mary Anne Richey (née Reimann):[26] First female to serve as the Assistant U.S. Attorney for Arizona (c. 1954)

County Attorney
  • Rose Sosnowsky Silver:[27][28] First female to serve as a County Attorney in Arizona (1969)
  • Patricia A. Orozco (1989):[16][17] First Latino American female to serve as a County Attorney in Arizona (1999)

Assistant County Attorney
  • Loretta Savage Whitney:[11] First female to serve as an Assistant County Attorney in Arizona (1943)

Political Office
  • Kyrsten Sinema (2005):[29][30] First openly LGBT female (a lawyer) elected to the U.S. Congress (2013).[31] She is also the first female to become the United States Senator-elect from Arizona (2018).

Bar Association
  • Roxana C. Bacon:[32] First female appointed as the President of the State Bar of Arizona (1991)
  • Amelia Craig Cramer:[33] First openly LGBT female appointed as the President of the State Bar of Arizona (2012)
  • Lisa Loo (1988):[34][35] First Asian American female (and Asian American in general) appointed as the President of the State Bar of Arizona (2016)

Firsts in local history

Alphabetized by county name

Apache County
  • Donna Grimsley:[36] First female appointed as a Judge of the Apache County Superior Court, Arizona (2003)

Cochise County
  • Ann Littrell:[37] First female appointed as Judge of the Cochise County Superior Court in Arizona

Coconino County
  • Helen Colton:[38] First female judge in Coconino County, Arizona (1919)
  • Ann Kirkpatrick (1979):[39] First female Deputy County Attorney for Coconino County, Arizona

Gila County
  • Daisy Flores:[40] First female County Attorney in Gila County, Arizona

Greenlee County

La Paz County

Maricopa County
  • Anita Lewis Chávez (1947):[4][13][14] Reputed to be the first Latino American female lawyer in Maricopa County, Arizona
  • Gloria Ybarra:[4] First Hispanic female appointed as a Judge of the Maricopa County Superior Court, Arizona (1985)
  • Sarah D. Grant:[5] First female to serve as the Presiding Criminal Judge in the Maricopa County Superior Court
  • Rosa Mroz:[43] First Asian American female to serve as a Judge of Maricopa County Superior Court (2004)
  • Barbara Rodriguez Mundell:[44] First Hispanic female appointed as the Presiding Judge of Maricopa County, Arizona (2005)
  • Roxanne Song Ong:[7][8] First Asian female appointed as the Presiding Judge of the Phoenix Municipal Court (Maricopa County, Arizona; 2005)
  • Allister Adel:[45] First female to serve as the County Attorney of Maricopa County, Arizona (2019)

Mohave County
  • Carolyn Holliday:[47][48] First female elected as a Judge of the Superior Court of Navajo County, Arizona, (1996) and serve as its Presiding Judge (1999)

Pima County
  • Mary Anne Richey (née Reimann):[2][26] First female to serve as the Deputy County Attorney in Pima County, Arizona (1952)
  • Alice Truman:[49] First female Justice of the Peace and judge in Pima County, Arizona (1962)
  • Rose Sosnowsky Silver:[27][28] First female appointed as the Pima County Attorney (1969)
  • Barbara LaWall (1976):[50] First female elected as the Pima County Attorney (1996)
  • Lina Rodriguez (1977):[4][51] First Hispanic American female appointed as a Judge of the Pima County Superior Court, Arizona (1984)
  • Laine Sklar:[52] First female magistrate in Marana, Arizona (c. 2006) [Pima County, Arizona]
  • Margarita Bernal (c. 1979):[53] First Latino American female to serve as a municipal court judge in Tucson, Arizona [Pima County, Arizona]

Santa Cruz County

Yavapai County

Yuma County
  • Nellie T. Bush and Emeline Ferguson:[9] First females elected as Justices of the Peace in Yuma County, Arizona (1914)
  • Patricia A. Orozco (1989):[16][17] First Latino American female appointed as the County Attorney for Yuma County, Arizona (1999)

See also

Other topics of interest

References
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