Presiding, Assistant Judgeships Filled

Ventura County Superior Court judges have elected Bruce A. Clark to serve as presiding judge for the next two years and selected John R. Smiley as assistant presiding judge.

The presiding judge supervises the administrative business of the court and serves as liaison between the courts and other government and civic agencies.

Clark, who now presides over criminal cases, has served as the assistant presiding judge for the past two years.

A former prosecutor, Clark was elected to the Municipal Court in 1978 and appointed to the Superior Court in June 1998 when Ventura County consolidated its Municipal and Superior courts.

Clark received his undergraduate degree from the University of Redlands and his law degree from UC Berkeley’s Boalt Hall School of Law.

Smiley, the supervising family court judge, was appointed to the Municipal Court in 1986 and elevated to the Superior Court in 1998 when the courts were consolidated.

A former business and family law attorney, Smiley received his undergraduate degree from Princeton University and his law degree from Southwestern University School of Law.

Smiley has supervised the family courts the past three years, and served as presiding judge of the Municipal Court in 1994 and 1995.