PHOTO
not available

Commissioner Talmage
presides over
Dept. 8 in the Santa Barbara
Figueroa Division.

Commissioner Talmage was born in Newport News, Virginia and grew up near Washington, D.C. before moving to California at age fifteen. She graduated from U.C.S.B. with a degree in Social Science and was a cum laude graduate from California Western School of Law in 1976. For four years she served with the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office and then engaged in the private practice of law for three years.

In 1983 Commissioner Talmage joined the Santa Barbara Municipal Court bench, thus becoming the first woman ever to hold a judicial position in the history of Santa Barbara County. Voted "Local Hero" in 1986 and "Best Traffic Judge" in 1986 and 1987 by the Santa Barbara Independent newspaper, she has also been honored as a Judicial Service Award recipient for her extraordinary service by the Santa Barbara County Bar.