Court Administrator Wins National Award

Sheila Gonzalez, chief administrator of the Ventura County courts, is the winner of the 1993 Warren E. Burger Award, the National Center for State Courts announced Monday.

The award is presented annually to recognize outstanding achievement in the field of court administration.

Gonzalez, 50--executive officer, clerk and jury commissioner of Ventura County’s Superior and Municipal courts--received nominations for the honor from nearly every judicial group affiliated with courts in California, district attorneys, public defenders and judges.

Gonzalez, who came to the Ventura courts in 1986, began her court career 19 years ago as a filing clerk in Glendale Municipal Court and, by 1980, she became administrator there.

She holds numerous state and national judicial committee posts, including chair of an advisory committee of court administrators for the state judicial council. She has also been lauded by colleagues for creating innovative programs that have helped streamline Ventura County court operations in the face of budget cutbacks.

Gonzalez said she was surprised to receive the award and credited Ventura County’s judges and court staff for her success.

“I really think this is a reflection of the leadership of this court,” she said, adding that judges have “allowed me to do my job” without interfering.

Gonzales said she had no idea that she had been nominated for the award until about a month ago, when a staff member of the Williamsburg, Va.-based National Center for State Courts informed her.

According to the courts group, Gonzalez was selected based on what she has been able to accomplish as head of the Ventura County courts, and an overwhelming number of nominations and letters of support.