Governor appoints LaDonna Giron to 13th Judicial District Court

SANTA FE — Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham has appointed LaDonna Giron, a veteran children’s court hearing officer and former tribal court judge, to the 13th Judicial District Court.

Giron will take office Dec. 7, filling the vacancy created by the retirement of District Judge Allen R. Smith. The 13th Judicial District Court serves Cibola, Sandoval and Valencia counties.

Since 2022, Giron has served as a hearing officer and special commissioner in the Children’s Court Division of the 2nd Judicial District Court in Albuquerque. From 2018 to 2022, Giron was a hearing officer and special commissioner in the 13th Judicial District, where she served as domestic violence commissioner and juvenile drug court judicial officer in Cibola County. She also served as a tribal court judge for the Pueblo of Isleta and as a pro tem judge for the pueblos of Laguna and Santa Ana.

Giron began her legal career as an assistant public defender with the New Mexico Public Defender, where she was named public defender of the year in her first year. She later served as an assistant district attorney in the 13th Judicial District Attorney’s Office and ran her own criminal defense practice from 2005 to 2011.

A Los Lunas High School graduate, Giron earned her law degree from the University of New Mexico School of Law in 2000. She lives in Los Lunas.