Arlan L. HarrellIncumbent

Candidate for Court of Appeal Justice, California Court of Appeal, Fifth Appellate District, Seat 3

Arlan L. Harrell is an Associate Justice of the California Court of Appeal, Fifth Appellate District. That court sits in Fresno. He graduated from the University of California, Riverside. He earned his J.D. in 1990 from UC Davis School of Law, known as King Hall. He began his legal career as an associate at the Fresno firm Lang, Richert and Patch. He then served as a Deputy District Attorney in Fresno County. He held that post from 1994 to 2003. He joined the Fresno County Superior Court as a court commissioner in 2003. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger named him a judge on that court in 2006. He served as a Fresno County judge for nearly two decades. On August 5, 2025, Governor Gavin Newsom picked him for the Fifth District Court of Appeal. The seat had opened when Associate Justice Charles S. Poochigian retired. The Commission on Judicial Appointments confirmed him on November 17, 2025. The Fifth District hears appeals from courts across the San Joaquin Valley and nearby counties. Its justices win office in district-wide retention votes. Harrell was named after the 2022 governor's race. So he goes before voters for the first time as an appellate justice. That vote is on November 3, 2026. It is a nonpartisan yes-or-no retention vote, with no opposing candidate.

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