Judge Richard Henderson announced that he will be retiring effective December 31 from the Superior Court. Judge Henderson was first elected in 2000 to a six year term and had been twice reelected without opposition. His work on the Court was fairly well divided between civil and criminal assignments. He presided over complex civil cases involving the California Environmental Quality Act, timber harvest plans, personal injury and contract disputes, and criminal cases from drunk driving to homicides. He served as presiding judge for two years, and also served in the Willits branch court shortly before that court was consolidated with the Ukiah court.
“While serving as a judge, I have been intimately involved in issues that deeply affect peoples’ lives and the community we live in and love,” Henderson observed, “I am grateful for the trust the community has placed in me over the years to resolve these issues in a fair and just manner and within the confines of the law. I have strived to treat every individual with the respect he or she deserves.” Judge Henderson is married to Colleen Buxton, his wife of 45 years. They have two children, Katherine McMullen of Southern California and Richie Henderson of Schat’s Bakery.
Judge Henderson returned to Ukiah in 1974 after serving in the Army Infantry for three years, including one year in Viet Nam, and attending law school at the University of San Francisco. After serving for three or four years as a deputy then assistant district attorney, he began to represent people throughout the county in general civil matters such as land use issues, property law, business law, and estate planning. “I treasure the years I spent working as an attorney, meeting people from Gualala to Westport and Hopland to Covelo,” Henderson recollected, “I grew to appreciate the many unique communities that have taken root throughout our county. As I drive the backroads of the county today, I see familiar homes and properties that remind me of the wonderful people I was fortunate to encounter in my work.”
Presiding Judge John Behnke stated, “Judge Henderson has been a versatile jurist who served with dignity and distinction while maintaining the highest standards of the judicial profession. He will be missed.”
http://www.mendocino.courts.ca.gov/docs/press/2016-1122.pdf
Categorized in: Legal Procedure
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