Long-time, public attorney James P. Beene will be sworn in on October 16, and former Superior Court Commissioner Scott McCoy will take his oath office on October 23. Both investiture ceremonies will take place in the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors Auditorium, 205 W. Jefferson, Phoenix from 12:30 to 1:30 pm. The public is invited to attend.

Judge Beene was appointed by Governor Jan Brewer to fill the vacancy created by the departure of Judge Anna Baca. He has spent his entire legal career in public service, including the last four years as an appeals and extraditions bureau chief in the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office. Prior to joining the county attorney’s office, he worked six years as an assistant attorney general in the Arizona Attorney General's Office. He received his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of California, Santa Barbara and his Juris Doctorate from the University of Arizona in 1991.

Judge Beene is a member of the Arizona State Bar Committees on criminal jury instructions and criminal practice and procedure and a former member of the Town of Gilbert Planning and Zoning Commission.

Judge Scott McCoy, also appointed by the Governor, fills the division vacated by Judge Louis Araneta. Prior to becoming a judge, he spent almost four years as a Superior Court Commissioner. Before joining the bench, he worked as an attorney for the law firm of Jennings, Strouss & Salmon. Judge McCoy earned his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, from the University of Southern California and his Juris Doctorate from the University of Arizona in 1990.

He is a faculty member of the Arizona State Bar course on professionalism and a volunteer judge for the Phoenix School of Law and ASU Moot Court Competitions and Mock Trial Program. Previously, Judge McCoy served an executive committee member of the Men’s Anti-Violence Network and the Maricopa County Volunteer Lawyer’s Program.

Since appointed in April, Judges Beene and McCoy have been presiding over Family Court Calendars.