Sacramento, California - Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced the following appointments:

Jennifer Neill, 45, of Elk Grove, has been appointed chief counsel at the Board of Parole Hearings. Neill has been a senior assistant attorney general at the California Department of Justice, Office of the Attorney General since 2012, where she served as supervising deputy attorney general from 2003 to 2012 and deputy attorney general from 1998 to 2003. She was a hearing officer at the Institute for Administrative Justice, Special Education Hearing Office from 1997 to 1998. Neill earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $157,500. Neill is a Democrat.

Marivel Barajas, 34, of Stockton, has been appointed deputy director of legislation at the California Department of Parks and Recreation. Barajas has been a legislative consultant in the Office of California State Senator Lois Wolk since 2008. She was campaign coordinator at Lois Wolk for State Senate in 2008 and a capital fellow in the Office of California State Senator Alex Padilla from 2007 to 2008. Barajas was an administrative aide in the Inglewood City Clerk’s Office from 2005 to 2006 and a project manager and marketing assistant at Imagen LLC from 2004 to 2005. She earned a Master of Public Policy degree from the University of Southern California, Sol Price School of Public Policy. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100,176. Barajas is a Democrat.