Makeup Of Bench

All but one of the 12 judges on the Ventura County Municipal Court are Republicans, and 10 are former county prosecutors. Following are brief sketches:

* CHARLES W. CAMPBELL Jr., 46. Republican. Graduated 1977, Glendale College of Law. Private practice 1978-1979. Ventura County deputy district attorney 1979-1988. Appointed to court in 1988 by Gov. Deukmejian.

* BRUCE A. CLARK., 45. Republican. Graduated 1966, Boalt Hall School of Law, University of California, Berkeley. Ventura County deputy district attorney 1969-1976. Chief trial deputy 1976-1978. Elected to court in 1978.

* LEE E. COOPER Jr., 58. Republican. Graduated 1960, UCLA School of Law. Ventura County deputy district attorney 1961-1962. Private practice from 1962-1970. Appointed to court in 1970 by Gov. Reagan. Currently presiding judge.

* HERBERT CURTIS III, 42. Democrat. Graduated 1975, Cleveland Marshall College of Law in Ohio. Ventura County deputy district attorney from 1976-1984. Appointed to court in 1984 by Gov. Deukmejian.

* JAMES E. DOBROTH, 49. Republican. Graduated 1971, UCLA School of Law. Ventura County deputy district attorney 1972-1987. Elected to court in 1987.

* ARTURO F. GUTIERREZ, 42. Republican. Graduated 1974, Loyola University School of Law. Ventura County deputy public defender 1975-1981. Appointed to court in 1981 by Gov. Brown.

* STEVEN E. HINTZ, 43. Republican. Graduated 1971, Boalt Hall School of Law, University of California, Berkeley. Defense counsel and prosecutor for Navy Judge Advocate General’s Corps 1972-1975. Ventura County deputy district attorney 1975-1982. Appointed to court in 1982 by Gov. Brown.

* JOHN J. HUNTER, 54. Republican. Graduated 1963, UCLA School of Law. Ventura County chief trial deputy district attorney 1964-1967. Private practice 1967 to 1970. Appointed to court in 1970 by Gov. Reagan.

* THOMAS J. HUTCHINS, 49. Republican. Graduated 1966, Cornell University School of Law. Ventura County deputy district attorney 1970-1974 and 1979-1989. Private practice 1974-1979. Appointed to court in 1989 by Gov. Deukmejian.

* BARRY B. KLOPFER, 46. Republican. Graduated 1971, Stanford University School of Law. Ventura County deputy district attorney, supervised Consumer and Environmental Protection Division 1972-1982. Senior deputy district attorney 1982-1987. Appointed to court in 1987 by Gov. Deukmejian.

* KEN W. RILEY, 46. Republican. Graduated 1975, Southwestern University School of Law, Los Angeles. Ventura County deputy district attorney 1976-1983; special assistant district attorney 1983-1984; senior deputy district attorney 1984-1988. Appointed to court in 1988 by Gov. Deukmejian.

* JOHN SMILEY, 43. Republican. Graduated 1973, Southwestern University School of Law. Private practice 1973-1986. Appointed to court in 1986 by Gov. Deukmejian.

In addition to the 12 judges, the court also includes Commissioner John V. Paventi, appointed 1988 by the county Municipal Court judges when the state Legislature failed to approve new judgeships. Paventi handles traffic and small claims cases in the court’s Simi Valley division three days a week, and civil trials in Ventura two days.

Paventi, 46, is a Republican. He graduated in 1971 from University of La Verne School of Law in Encino. After two years in private practice, he served as a Monterey County deputy district attorney in 1973 and 1974, and as a Ventura County deputy district attorney from 1974 to 1988.