Judge Rogelio R. Flores

Superior Court Judge Rogelio Flores began his judicial duties in January, 1987 as the first court commissioner for the North Santa Barbara County Municipal Court. In 1997, he was appointed to the municipal court bench and in 1998, he was elevated to the superior court. He received his law degree from the UCLA School of Law in 1979. His law career started at the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles from 1979 to 1981. He was in private practice from 1981 until joining the public defenders office in 1986.

Judge Flores is currently assigned to various specialty courts in Santa Maria including the Substance Abuse Treatment Court-SATC, (Drug Court), and drug treatment mandated by passage of Proposition 36, and calendars specializing in co-occurring disorders. He has previously been assigned to the Mental Health Treatment Court. Additionally, he was instrumental in the creation of the first domestic violence review calendar in Santa Maria and Lompoc. Judge Flores is a guest lecturer at The National Judicial College in Reno, Nevada, having presented several lectures on the subject of domestic violence. Judge Flores is a faculty member for the National Drug Court Institute and he has been a panelist at the National Drug Court Conference in 2004 and 2005, and the California Association of Drug Court Professionals Conference in 2005. He was a panelist at the International Convention of AA in the summer of 2005 in Toronto, Canada on how AA and the courts work together. He is a visiting faculty member of the Santa Barbara College of Law having taught on the subject of therapeutic justice, and he recently presented a lecture on the same subject at Drake Law School in Des Moines, Iowa.

He is a Past President of the Latino Judges of California, and he is a member of the National and California Association of Drug Court Professionals. Judge Flores is Honorary Chairperson of the National Association of Latino Drug Court Professionals, Mejorar. Additionally he has mentored several high school and college students who have expressed an interest in pursuing law as a career. He has previously received Certificates of Recognition from the California State Legislature, Congressman Robert Lagomarsino, Congresswoman Lois Capps, the National Latino Peace Officers Association, The County of Santa Barbara, the Santa Barbara County Probation Peace Officers Association, The City of Santa Maria, The City of Santa Barbara, the Community Recovery Network and was granted the Achievement Award for 2001 by the Santa Barbara Hispanic Achievement Council. In December, 2003 his work in therapeutic justice was recognized by NAMI. In 2005 he received the Cultural Diversity Award from the the California Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs.