Governor Brown announced today that she will appoint judges to positions on circuit courts in Baker County, Deschutes County and Josephine County. Governor Brown will appoint District Attorney Matthew B. Shirtcliff to a vacancy on the Baker County Circuit Court created by the retirement of Judge Gregory L. Baxter; Alycia N. Sykora to a vacancy on the Deschutes County Circuit Court created by the retirement of Judge A. Michael Adler and Sarah E. McGlaughlin and Brandon S. Thueson to vacancies on the Josephine County Circuit Court created by the retirements of Judge Lindi L. Baker and Judge Thomas M. Hull, respectively.
“I am pleased to appoint this group of exceedingly talented lawyers,” Governor Brown said. “All four of these lawyers have demonstrated a commitment to public service. They will now continue their service to the public by administering Oregon’s justice system from the bench.”
Matthew B. Shirtcliff is the District Attorney of Baker County, a position he has held since 2001. During his service as District Attorney, Shirtcliff has also held positions as County Counsel and the County’s Juvenile Director. Prior to his election as District Attorney in 2001, Shirtcliff was a prosecutor in the Baker County District Attorney’s Office, where he began his career in 1994. Shirtcliff is a graduate of Gonzaga School of Law and Oregon State University. In addition to his service as District Attorney, Shirtcliff is active in the community as a member of the Saint Alphonsus Hospital Board and the Rotary Club of Baker City, and he coaches various youth athletic activities. His appointment is effective November 1, 2019.
Alycia N. Sykora is an attorney in private practice in Bend, as well as a judge pro tempore on the Deschutes County Circuit Court. She has worked in Bend litigating complex civil disputes since 2002. Sykora was previously an associate attorney at Oregon Health and Science University and, earlier, an honors attorney at the Oregon Department of Justice. She began her legal career as a law clerk on the Oregon Supreme Court. Sykora is a graduate of University of Oregon School of Law and University of Michigan. In 2015, Sykora was awarded the Edwin J. Peterson Award for Professionalism from the Oregon State Bar. She authored The Oregon Constitution and Cases and is an editor of the Oregon Constitutional Law Manual. She has served on boards and committees for the Deschutes County Bar Association, the Oregon Chapter of the American Constitution Society, the Oregon State Bar’s Constitutional Law and Appellate Practice Sections, and University of Oregon Law School Alumni Association. Her appointment is effective immediately.
Sarah E. McGlaughlin is a prosecutor in the Josephine County District Attorney’s Office. She previously worked at the Oregon Commission for the Blind. She has also held volunteer law student positions at the Boston Immigration Court, the Boston College Innocence Project Clinic, the New Hampshire Public Defender, and the Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders Legal InfoLine. Before pursuing a career in law, McGlaughlin was a paralegal at a firm in New York and a teacher in the Republic of the Marshall Islands. She is a graduate of Boston College Law School and Dartmouth College. Active in the community, McGlaughlin is a board member of the Rogue Valley Transportation District and the Oregon State Bar’s Advisory Committee on Diversity and Inclusion. Her appointment is effective immediately.
Brandon S. Thueson is a child advocacy lawyer at the Oregon Department of Justice, representing the State in juvenile dependency cases in Klamath and Lake Counties. He was previously a prosecutor in the Jackson County District Attorney’s Office. Thueson is also a member of the City Council of Central Point and earlier served as a member of the school board of Logos Public Charter School. He is a graduate of Willamette University College of Law and Brigham Young University — Idaho. Thueson has coached a high school mock trial team and youth soccer and basketball teams. His appointment is effective immediately.
