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Tribal-State Judicial Consortium

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Membership & Appointments

Membership

The Consortium consists of 14 members, half of whom represent Tribal Courts and the other half represents State Courts at all levels. In addition, 3 alternate positions may fill in for regular members (voting authority) when one is absent. Two alternates represent Tribal Courts, and one represents State Courts.

Appointments

The Tribal Court representatives are designated by the Tribal Judges, with two members coming from the Southern Pueblos, two from the Northern Pueblos, one each from the Jicarilla Apache Tribe and the Navajo Nation, and one general position. 

The State Court representatives are appointed by the New Mexico Supreme Court. There are also 2 liaison positions, one for a Supreme Court member, and one for a Federal Court or attorney, who are appointed by the Supreme Court.

All members hold 3-year terms and may be reappointed for additional terms. See below for the Order from the Supreme Court regarding these appointments and the official Tribal-State Judicial Consortium roster:

Order of Appointments

Tribal-State 2018 Roster

Judge Renee Torres

Judge Renee Torres

Title: State Co-Chair

Court: Bernalillo County Metro Court
Address: P.O. Box 133, Albuquerque, NM 87103
Phone: 505-841-8255
Groups: State Members
Judge Randolph M. Collins

Judge Randolph M. Collins

Title: Tribal Co-Chair

Court: Acoma Pueblo Tribal Court
Address: P.O. Box 347, Acoma Pueblo, NM 87034
Phone: 505-552-7500
Biography: Judge Randolph Collins holds a BA from Georgetown University and taught high school mathematics after college. He also an MA from the University of Chicago, and graduated with honors from Georgetown University Law School. After law school he served as a judicial law clerk for a federal judge, Hon. Edwards S. Northrop, in US District Court in Maryland. Subsequently, he practiced as a litigator in private firms in Baltimore and Washington D.C. His practice included complex civil litigation, particularly in the areas of employment, contracts, commercial and insurance law. In addition, Judge Collins worked on policy for the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, the Governor of Maryland, and Lt. Governor of Virginia. In New Mexico, Judge Collins served as Deputy District Attorney for 5 years managing the Cibola County DA’s office, prosecuting and trying a full range of felony cases, and later started his own legal practice. Judge Collins is a member of the bar in New Mexico, Maryland and Washington D.C.
Groups: Tribal Members
Judge John F. Davis

Judge John F. Davis

Court: Thirteenth Judicial District Court

Address: P.O. Box 600, Bernalillo, NM 87004
Phone: 505-867-8050

Biography: Judge Davis is a graduate of the University of New Mexico School of Law (1982) and is a district court judge in Sandoval County, which is part of the the Thirteenth Judicial District. He presides over all domestic matters, all abuse and neglect cases, as well as all probates and lower court appeals. He was appointed to the bench in 2006 after serving as the Court’s Special Commissioner for Domestic Violence and Domestic Relations Hearing Officer for three years.

Found within the geographic limits of the Thirteenth Judicial District is a portion of the Navajo Nation and numerous pueblos, with five pueblos located within 20 miles of the District Court in Bernalillo, New Mexico. As such, Judge Davis routinely hears cases in which ICWA and State/Tribal jurisdictional concerns are at the forefront. He is a former member of the Board of Directors of Greater Albuquerque Habitat for Humanity and a mentor with Big Brothers/Big Sisters.

Groups: State Members

Judge Alexandra C. Naranjo

Court: Rio Arriba County Magistrate Court

Address: P.O. Box 600, Bernalillo, NM 87004
Phone: 505-753-2532
Groups: State Members
Judge William E. Parnall

Judge William E. Parnall

Court: Second Judicial District Court

Address: 5100 Second Street, NW Albuquerque, NM 87107
Phone: 505-841-7602

Biography: Judge William Parnall obtained a BA, cum laude, in Spanish and Portuguese language and culture from the University of New Mexico, and further studied Spanish and Portuguese in the doctoral programs at the University of California (Santa Barbara) and UNM. He earned his JD from UNM with honors. After a career in private practice, he became an Assistant City Attorney for Albuquerque and handled misdemeanor defense cases. Subsequently, he worked in the NM Public Defender’s Office on cases of adult felony and juvenile defense.

Judge Parnall was appointed to the Children’s Court Division of the 2nd Judicial District Court in 2007 after 27 years as a trial lawyer in State and Federal District Courts and the Federal Court of Appeals where he handled criminal defense, children’s court cases, abuse and neglect defense, and counsel for parties in domestic relations and Guardian ad Litem cases. He also taught advance criminal procedure at UNM and the CSLA Peruvian Administration of Justice Training Program. He was a member of the NM Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, as past President among other official roles, and is a member of the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges.

Groups: State Members
Judge Pedro G. Rael

Judge Pedro G. Rael

Court: Thirteenth Judicial District Court

Address: P.O. Box 758, Grants, NM 87020
Phone: 505-287-2104
Groups: State Members

Judge Frank A. Sedillo

Court: Bernalillo County Metro Court

Address: P.O. Box 133, Albuquerque, NM 87103
Phone: 505-841-8287
Groups: State Members

Judge Peggy Bird

Court: Pueblo of Nambe Tribal Court

Address: Route 1, Box 177-BB Santa Fe, NM 87506
Phone: 505-455-5581
Groups: Tribal Members

Judge T. David Eisenberg

Court: Taos Pueblo Tribal Court

Address: P.O. Box 1846, Taos, NM 87571
Phone: 505-751-0488
Groups: Tribal Members
Judge Bruce C. Fox

Judge Bruce C. Fox

Court: Laguan Pueblo Tribal Court

Address: P.O. Box 194, Laguna, NM 87120
Phone: 505-552-1900
Biography: Judge Bruce Fox received his B.A. from the University of Connecticut and his J.D. from the Western New England University. He then left the suburbs of Connecticut and moved to Window Rock, Arizona, where he worked for DNA Peoples Legal Services on the Navajo Nation. He also worked for many years at the NM Public Defender Department in Farmington and Albuquerque, where he specialized in mental health issues. And in between he spent some time in private practice. His most recent positions have been with the Pueblo of Laguna Healing to Wellness Court, a criminal diversion program which encourages alcaholics and drug addicts to leave behind their lives of addiction and crime. During his career Judge Fox has served on the New Mexico Supreme Court Criminal Uniform Jury Instruction Committee, and has been on the boards of the New Mexico Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, and the Family Crisis Center in Farmington.
Groups: Tribal Members
Judge William Bluehouse Johnson

Judge William Bluehouse Johnson

Title: At-Large Tribal Member

Court: Courts of the Jicarilla Apache Nation
Address: P.O. Box 128 Dulce, NM 87528

Biography:  Judge William Bluehouse Johnson sits as judge at the Pueblo of Acoma and is a member of the Pueblo of Isleta with roots in Navajo, Laguna and Hopi as well. He holds a J.D. from the University of New Mexico (UNM) School of Law and is licensed to practice law with the Federal bar, 10th Circuit. His prior experience includes working as a facilitator for Domestic Violence education classes at the Pueblo of Jemez, 3 years as staff attorney with Indian Pueblo Legal Services, prosecutor with the Pueblo of Zuni and the Yavapai-Apache Nation, Associate Judge with the Pueblos of Isleta, Laguna, Acoma, Santa Ana and Cochiti.

Judge Johnson has also worked with two private Native women owned law firms, as a law school tutor with the Pre-Law Summer Institute at UNM, and with the Southwest Title Plant / BIA. He has been associated with the New Mexico Supreme Court Judicial Education and Training Advisory Committee, the New Mexico State Bar Indian Law Section, the New Mexico Indian Bar Association, the Southwest Indian Court of Appeals, the Criminal and Juvenile Delinquency Coordinating Council, and the New Mexico Children’s Justice Act Advisory Group.

Groups: At-Large Tribal Member, Tribal Members

Judge Kim McGinnis

Court: Pojoaque Pueblo Tribal Court

Address: 58 Cities of Gold Road, Santa Fe, NM 87506
Phone: 505-455-2271
Groups: At-Large Tribal Member, Tribal Alternate, Tribal Members
Judge Geoffrey Tager

Judge Geoffrey Tager

Court: Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo Tribal Court

Address: P.O. Box 1128, Ohkay Owingeh, NM 87566
Phone: 505-852-4475

Biography: Judge Geoffrey Tager obtained a BA in Urban Studies from Lehigh University. After college, he managed a downtown revitalization program for Fort Dodge, Iowa and received a Main Street Iowa Achievement Award for his work in the community. He earned his JD from SUNY Buffalo, where he received the Lee Lyons Award for Continued Advocacy of Native American Legal Rights, and was also awarded a Public Interest Fellowship from NYU School of Law.

Upon graduation, Judge Tager moved to the Hopi Reservation where he helped to establish the Hopi Public Defenders Office. Over the course of the next twelve years, he also established a private practice on Hopi and later worked as a Deputy Prosecutor for the Tribe. He was part of a team that received the Coordinating Committee’s Cooperative Law Enforcement Award from the USAG for the District of Arizona. He served as the Tribal Judge for the Pueblo of Tesuque for four years and in 2009, he was appointed to serve as Chief Judge in Ohkay Owingeh. Judge Tager also serves as a community representative on the Rio Arriba County Drug Court team. He is a member of the Hopi and New Mexico bars.

Groups: Tribal Members

Judge Mekko Miller

Court: San Ildefonso Pueblo Tribal Court

Address: 02 Tunyo Po, Santa Fe, NM 87506
Phone: 505-455-2273
Groups: Tribal Alternate, Tribal Members
Justice Barbara J. Vigil

Justice Barbara J. Vigil

Court: STATE LIASON - New Mexico Supreme Court

Address: 237 Don Gaspar
Santa Fe, NM 87501
Phone: 505-827-4886
Biography: Barbara J. Vigil is a Justice on the New Mexico Supreme Court. Prior to her election in 2012 to the New Mexico Supreme Court, Justice Vigil served as a Chief Judge of the First Judicial District Court. Justice Vigil served as a District Court Judge for over twelve years and for ten of those years she presided over children and family court cases. In the last two years of her tenure on the district court, Justice Vigil presided over civil cases. Justice Vigil has presided over 16,000 cases. Before becoming a judge, Justice Vigil owned her own law firm in Santa Fe and represented institutions and indivduals in virtually every type of case. Throughout her legal career, Justice Vigil has been an advocate for children. Justice Vigil was born and educated in New Mexico and enjoys traveling and reading in her private time.
Groups: Supreme Court Liaison

Michael Murphy

Court: Office of the U.S. Attorney

Address: 201 Third Street, NW, Suite 900, Albuquerque, NM 87102
Phone: 505-224-1530
Groups: Federal Liaison

Michelle Garcia

Program/Project Coordinator

Court: Administrative Office of the Courts
Address: 325 Don Gaspar, Suite 100, Santa Fe, NM 87501
Phone: 505-827-482
Groups: Consortium Staff

State Alternate - Vacant

Groups: State Members

Court of Appeals Judge - Vacant