WHERE DO JUDGES COME FROM? An Overview of Judicial Selection in Arizona:

North Valley Justice of the Peace Gerald A. Williams was appointed in April 2004. He was then elected to his current position in the fall of 2004 and was re-elected in 2006 and again in 2010. He is the Associate Presiding Justice of the Peace of the Maricopa County Justice Courts.

Prior to his appointment, Judge Williams was the staff attorney for the Arizona Commission on Judicial Conduct. While there he represented the commission in seven formal public cases against judges and helped review more than 500 ethics complaints against judges throughout the state of Arizona. He has also served as a staff attorney for the Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Counsel’s Office in Phoenix.

Judge Williams received an undergraduate degree from Oklahoma State University and earned his law degree from the University of Oklahoma College of Law. While in law school, he served as managing editor of Oklahoma Law Review.

Judge Williams began his legal career in the United States Air Force, where he served as a Judge Advocate General or “JAG.” As an Air Force attorney, he prosecuted and defended criminal cases and served as a medical law consultant. Judge Williams retired from the Air Force Reserve as a Lieutenant Colonel.

Judge Williams is actively involved in efforts to improve the judicial branch. He served on committees that wrote the Justice Court Rules of Civil Procedure, the Rules of Procedure for Eviction Actions, and the rules for the Constable Ethics, Standards, and Training Board. Judge Williams is a faculty member for the Arizona New Judge Orientation Course and also served on the Arizona Supreme Court’s DUI Case Processing Committee. He was named the 2013 Arizona Justice of the Peace of the Year.

He has also been involved in community activities for several years and is active in Christ Church of the Valley. Judge Williams volunteers as a trial judge for the high school Arizona Mock Trial Tournament and as a Law Merit Badge Counselor for the Boy Scouts. His articles have appeared in various legal publications, including the Arizona Attorney magazine. He also writes a monthly newspaper column.