Countywide : Judge Thompson to Retire in ’93

Bruce A. Thompson, a Ventura County Superior Court judge since 1979, will leave office when his term expires in January, 1993.

Thompson, 66, was on vacation Friday, but Steven Z. Perren, the presiding judge of the Superior Court, confirmed that Thompson had told associates of his plan to retire.

Thompson, who holds a law degree from UC Berkeley, began practicing in Ventura County in 1954. He worked for eight years in the district attorney’s office, including a 1 1/2-year stint as the district attorney.

He holds the distinction of being appointed to the bench three times by former Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr. In January, 1978, he was appointed to fill a vacancy on the Superior Court but was defeated in the November election by Judge Charles R. McGrath, who was then a Municipal Court judge. Brown appointed Thompson to McGrath’s former seat on the Municipal Court in 1979, and later that year the governor named Thompson to the Superior Court seat he currently holds.

In recent years, Thompson has been one of three Superior Court judges who handle civil matters.

Municipal Judge John J. Hunter, whose term also expires in January, 1993, has said he will run for Thompson’s seat. The filing period for the June primary election begins in February.