Donna Bevacqua-Young

AGE: 49

EDUCATION: BA degree in 1990 from the State University of New York in Albany; paralegal certificate, 1992; law degree, University of Baltimore School of Law, 1996.

OCCUPATION: Santa Fe County Magistrate Judge.

RELEVANT EXPERIENCE: I have been a judge since

December 2013. I was initially appointed and then elected in 2014 for a four-year term.

My first job as an attorney was as an assistant public defender in Santa Fe where I worked on statewide appeals from 1998 to 1999. I then worked as an assistant district attorney from 1999 to 2005, working on cases ranging from domestic violence, child abuse, juvenile offender, white collar crimes, DWI and vehicular homicide. In 2005, I became the state’s first federally funded Traffic Safety Resource Prosecutor, initially working for the Administrative Office of the District Attorneys from 2005-10 and then at the Attorney General’s Office from 2010-13. My main duties were to prosecute high-profile cases involving politicians and other high-ranking officials, and to help train the prosecutors and police as a team when working on DWI and DWI-related cases. As a prosecutor, I prosecuted hundreds of bench and jury trials. In 2013, I was appointed by the governor to serve out the unexpired term of Magistrate Judge Buzzy Padilla.

WHY I’M RUNNING: My entire career has focused on serving the community. During my judgeship, I have presided over approximately 4,000-6,000 civil cases, including breach of contract, tort and landlord-tenant cases.

I have also presided over thousands of criminal cases, and both bench and jury trials. The biggest challenge that I see for the public is lack of information about the judicial process. It is my goal to make sure both the public and attorneys alike understand the procedures in my courtroom.

It is now my goal to serve the larger community of Santa Fe, Rio Arriba and Los Alamos counties. I have worked as a prosecutor and judge in all three counties. I have attended the National Judicial College in Reno as a student and then was asked to be a group facilitator on a second trip to the college. As a group facilitator, I helped advise other attorney judges regarding legal skills and techniques.

The Division II judgeship is a civil court position. There are several changes that I would make: (1) to make the court system more accessible to pro se litigants who lack resources; (2) advocate for cross-training of judges and a rotation of case loads; (3) ensure all judges split the cases equally regardless of tenure or seniority; and (4) alternate judges to assist on specialty courts and create a special mental health court. It is my goal to make the judicial branch more accessible and ensure that all persons before me obtain equal access to justice.

BACKGROUND QUESTIONS:

1. Have you or your business — if you are a business owner — ever been the subject of any state or federal tax liens? No

2. Have you ever been involved in a personal or business bankruptcy proceeding? No

3. Have you ever been arrested for, charged with or convicted of drunken driving, any misdemeanor or any felony? No