(CN) - California Gov. Jerry Brown has appointed Michael Jurkovich to a judgeship in the Madera County Superior Court.
Jurkovich, 57, fills a vacancy left by retirement of Judge Eric Wyatt.
A Republican from Fresno, Jurkovich graduated from San Joaqin College of Law after getting his undergraduate degree from California State University, Fresno.
He served as a correctional officer with the Fresno County Sheriff's Department from 1978 to 1981 and as a Madera police officer from 1981 to 1990.
He was an attorney and shareholder at Kimble MacMichael and Upton from 1990 to 2011, and has spent the last year as an attorney at Gilmore Wood Vinnard and Magness.
The new position comes with an annual salary of $178,789.
Subscribe to Closing Arguments
Sign up for new weekly newsletter Closing Arguments to get the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and hot cases and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world.