Political Party (If partisan race): Non-partisan

Bio Sheet for:

The Honorable Sergio A. Gutierrez

Judge Gutierrez, a former school drop-out and farmworker, was the first Latino judge in Idaho.  Along with poverty, the Judge overcame many challenges in his life including the break-up of his family as a young boy, his mother’s mental health problems, a serious speech impediment, and growing up in neighborhoods where drugs and gangs were the norm. 

Judge Gutierrez earned his GED through the Job Corps, a program with which he remains involved in to this day.  The Judge also earned a Bachelor of Arts degree, cum laude, in Elementary Education from Boise State University and a Juris Doctor degree from the University of California, Hastings Law School.  Of these degrees, Judge Gutierrez remains most proud of his GED because, as he says, “It gave me a new start in life.”

As a young lawyer, Judge Gutierrez practiced in southwest Idaho for over ten years.  In November of 1993, Governor Cecil D. Andrus appointed him District Judge.  Judge Gutierrez was twice elected to retain this position by the voters in his district.  Governor Kempthorne appointed Judge Gutierrez to serve on the Idaho Court of Appeals beginning January 2002 and he subsequently was elected to serve a full term.     

Judge Gutierrez’s service in the Judiciary beyond the bench includes serving as the current chair of the Idaho Supreme Court Fairness and Equality Committee and previously serving as a member of Supreme Court committees, including the Civil Rules, Jury, Drug Court and Discovery Rules committees.  Judge Gutierrez has also served on the Governor’s Coordinating Council for Children and Families and the Governor’s Criminal Justice Commission.

Judge Gutierrez is a member of the National Job Corps Hall of Fame.  The Judge was nominated for this honor with fellow Job Corps alumni, including heavyweight boxing champion of the world George Foreman, before being selected.  Most recently, Judge Gutierrez was awarded the Silver Medallion from Boise State University, that institution’s highest honor for service to the community.  The Judge has received numerous other awards for his extensive public service, i.e., the Human Rights Award, the Third Judicial District Professionalism Award and Boise State University’s Distinguished Alumni Award, and has served on several boards and commissions to help the community, i.e, Idaho Community Foundation Regional Advisory Council, Boise State University Alumni Board, National Job Corps Association Board, Northwest Nazarene University Board of Regents, Healthy Nampa Healthy Youth Coalition, and with the Treasure Valley Reading Foundation.  In October 2002, Hispanic Business magazine named the Judge as one of the 100 most influential Latinos in America.