Sacramento, California - Governor Gavin Newsom today announced the following appointments:
Arthur Anderson, 71, of Roseville, has been reappointed to the Board of Parole Hearings, where he has served since 2008. He served as assistant commissioner for field operations at the California Highway Patrol from 2004 to 2007, chief of the Valley Division from 2001 to 2004, chief of the Professional Standards Division from 2000 to 2001 and assistant chief of the Golden Gate Division from 1999 to 2000. Anderson was director of the California Office of Traffic Safety from 1993 to 1999. He served in various other positions with the California Highway Patrol from 1974 to 1992, including captain, lieutenant, sergeant and patrol officer. Anderson earned a Master of Public Administration degree from the University of San Francisco. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $159,068. Anderson is registered without party preference.
Patricia Cassady, 67, of Concord, has been reappointed to the Board of Parole Hearings, where she has served as a commissioner since 2016. Cassady has served in several positions at the Board of Parole Hearings since 1995, including as deputy commissioner from 1995 to 2005 and again from 2013 to 2016, associate chief deputy commissioner from 2005 to 2008 and again from 2010 to 2013, and chief deputy commissioner from 2008 to 2010. She was an attorney in the Law Offices of Patricia A. Cassady from 1988 to 1995. Cassady earned a Juris Doctor degree from the John F. Kennedy University College of Law. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $159,068. Cassady is a Democrat.
Randolf Grounds, 64, of San Juan Capistrano, has been reappointed to the Board of Parole Hearings, where he has served since 2016. He served as warden at Salinas Valley State Prison from 2012 to 2014. Grounds held several positions at the Correctional Training Facility, Soledad from 2009 to 2012, including warden and acting warden. He was associate warden at Salinas Valley State Prison from 2007 to 2009. He served at the California Correctional Institution as facility captain from 2004 to 2007 and classification and parole representative from 2001 to 2004. Grounds was a correctional counselor supervisor at the California Correctional Institution from 1996 to 2001 and was a correctional counselor at California State Prison, Lancaster in 1996. He served as a correctional counselor at the California Correctional Institution from 1991 to 1996 and a deputy probation officer at the El Dorado County Probation Department from 1988 to 1991. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $159,068. Grounds is a Republican.
Maria Gutierrez, 56, of Los Angeles, has been appointed to the Board of Parole Hearings. She has been an assistant sheriff at the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department since 2018. Gutierrez was chief of the Court Services Division and Hispanic affairs executive at the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department from 2016 to 2018 and served in several other positions there from 1998 to 2015, including commander and captain of the Century Regional Detention Facility and lieutenant, sergeant and detective. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $159,068. Gutierrez is registered without party preference.
Michael Ruff, 55, of Sacramento, has been reappointed to the Board of Parole Hearings, where he has served since 2017. Ruff was a retired annuitant special agent on the Special Projects Team at the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation from 2013 to 2016. He was a special agent in charge at the Office of Correctional Safety from 2007 to 2013 and senior special agent there from 2003 to 2007. Ruff was a captain at the Deuel Vocational Institute from 2001 to 2003 and a lieutenant there from 1998 to 2001. He was a sergeant at San Quentin State Prison from 1994 to 1998, where he was a correctional officer from 1986 to 1994. He served as a senior airman in the U.S. Air Force from 1982 to 1985. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $159,068. Ruff is a Democrat.
Mary Thornton, 55, of Fresno, has been appointed to the Board of Parole Hearings. She has served as deputy commissioner and administrative law judge with the Board of Parole Hearings since 2018. Thornton served as a senior deputy district attorney at the Madera County District Attorney’s Office from 2016 to 2017, where she was a deputy district attorney from 2009 to 2013. She served as a deputy district attorney at the Kings County District Attorney’s Office from 2013 to 2015. Thornton earned a Juris Doctor degree from the San Joaquin College of Law. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $159,068. Thornton is registered without party preference.
Michael Romano, 47, of San Francisco, has been appointed chair of the Committee on Revision of the Penal Code. Romano has been director of the Justice Advocacy Project at Stanford Law School since 2007. Romano was counsel at Riordan & Horgan from 2005 to 2008, a law clerk for the Honorable Richard Tallman at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit from 2003 to 2004 and a legal researcher for the Innocence Project from 2000 to 2001. Romano was a staff writer for Seattle Weekly from 1994 to 1999. He earned a Juris Doctor degree from Stanford Law School and a Master of Laws degree from Yale Law School. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Romano is a Democrat.
