Judge Armendariz presided over cases at the State Bar Court of California for over a decade. Appointed to the bench in 2007, Judge Armendariz maintained a heavy docket of cases that included trials, motion hearings and status conferences. Judge Armendariz was appointed to the Superior Court of Los Angeles in California under Governor Jerry Brown in October 2018 where she serves at the East Los Angeles Courthouse presiding over misdemeanor trials.
Having committed her career to public service, Judge Armendariz served as Chief of Staff to the Senate Majority Leader and gained extensive experience at the Capitol in Sacramento through her service as Counsel to both the Senate and Assembly Committees on Public Safety. Governor Gray Davis appointed Judge Armendariz as the Ombudsman for women’s prisons in California.
Motivated by her experiences as a foster child, Judge Armendariz has a long history of involvement in her community. Thrust into the foster care system at age 10, Judge Armendariz bounced between homes before a long-term placement provided the stability that facilitated her pursuit of a college education. Determined to “pay it forward”, Judge Armendariz has volunteered her time as a Commissioner to the Supreme Court Blue Ribbon Commission on Foster Care and as a Board Member to Leadership California, an organization dedicated to advancing the leadership role of women and girls. She is involved with many mentoring organizations.
Judge Armendariz grew up in the East Los Angeles community of Boyle Heights, and is a graduate of Roosevelt High School where she now serves as a Teen Court Judge. As an undergraduate at UCLA she majored in Sociology and Economics. She earned her law degree in 1997 from U.C. Hastings School of Law.
