Goertzen Elected Presiding Judge of Superior Court

Jack E. Goertzen was elected presiding judge of the Los Angeles County Superior Court on Wednesday, beginning a two-year term at the helm of the 224-judge system.

Richard P. Byrne was unanimously elected as assistant presiding judge, marking only the second time in the past two decades that there has been no contest for the post.

Goertzen, a former deputy attorney general and Municipal Court judge, has served on the Superior Court bench since 1970, as assistant presiding judge since January, 1985.

Byrne, who had a long career as a deputy district attorney and private attorney before his judicial appointment in 1972, was presiding judge of the Juvenile Court from 1979 to 1981.