Sutter County judge to retire in September

Aug. 11—Sutter County Superior Court Judge Sarah H. Heckman announced Friday that she will retire on Sept. 30.

Elected to six-year terms, Heckman has served for 10 years in Sutter County after being first elected in November 2012 — She replaced H. Ted Hansen following his retirement, officials said. According to the Sutter County courts website, California Gov. Gavin Newsom makes an appointment to complete a judge's term.

Of the notable cases Heckman has presided over, Heckman in 2020 ruled that Newsom overstepped his authority in issuing an executive order regarding an upcoming election. The ruling, at the time, voided the governor's order and prevented him from unilaterally making or changing state law in the future.

It was considered a victory for the plaintiffs, Assemblyman James Gallagher, R-Yuba City, and Assemblyman Kevin Kiley, R-Rocklin, who filed a request for a temporary restraining order against the governor's executive order.

The executive order in question made changes to how the 2020 Presidential Election would operate due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Appeal previously reported. The plaintiffs filed a request for a temporary restraining order, which was granted by Sutter County Superior Court Judge Perry Parker in June 2020 before it was later vacated by the California Third District Court of Appeals. Heckman presided over the trial, which was Oct. 21, 2020.

The defense argued that the governor had the authority under the California Emergency Services Act to legislate by unilaterally amending existing statutory law, the Appeal previously reported. The court found that while the act was not unconstitutional because it didn't violate the separation of powers under the California Constitution, it did not empower the governor to make or amend statutes.

Heckman ruled that the executive order was not authorized by the California Emergency Services Act because the order improperly amended existing statutory law, exceeding the governor's authority and violating the separation of powers, the Appeal previously reported. She also found good cause to issue a permanent injunction, prohibiting Newsom from exercising any power under the act to modify existing statutory law or make new statutory law or legislative policy.

"The Constitution gives the legislative branch the exclusive authority to make law and the executive branch the power to see that the law is faithfully executed," Heckman wrote in her tentative ruling.

The matter was later overturned by the California Third District Court of Appeals after the governor's legal team appealed the decision. As a result, Gallagher and Kiley took their concerns about the governor's actions during the pandemic to the California Supreme Court. In August 2021, the California Supreme Court denied their petition.

Heckman, who earned a bachelor's degree from the University of California, Berkeley, first worked with the Fremont and Rideout Medical Group as a community relations director and director of development. She later changed careers after earning a Juris Doctor degree from the McGeorge School of Law in 1999.

"As a new attorney, Judge Heckman first worked in a private civil practice before serving as a child support attorney for both the Sutter County District Attorney's office and the Department of Child Support Services," officials said "Prior to her election, she worked as Sutter Court's family law facilitator and supervising attorney between 2002 and 2012. In the past decade, she has presided primarily over family law, juvenile, and other civil matters."

Heckman also was the judge liaison for the Sutter Superior Court Grand Jury from 2016 to 2022. She has served as a member of the California Judicial Council steering committee for the education of bench officers in small counties since 2018 and she is a trustee for the Sutter Law Library.

"Serving the people of Sutter County for the past 20 years has been a great honor and it has been my distinct privilege to promote access to justice, help keep children safe and to strengthen families," Heckman said in a statement.