Hon. Joseph C. Welty is the presiding judge of the Maricopa County Superior Court in Arizona. He was appointed to the bench by former Governor Janet Napolitano in 2007.
During his judicial tenure, Welty has held assignments in the Civil, Juvenile, Criminal, and Family Courts. He has also served as associate presiding judge of the Civil and Juvenile Departments and presiding judge of the Criminal Department. Welty was named presiding judge of the Judicial Branch in Maricopa County by the Arizona Supreme Court in 2019. As such, he has supervisory authority over the Superior Court and Adult and Juvenile Probation departments as well as oversight authority over all lower courts within the county.
Prior to joining the bench, he worked as an Assistant United States Attorney with the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona since 1991. During his tenure there, Welty served as Deputy Chief of the Criminal Section (2001 to 2006) and Chief of the National Security Section (2006 to 2007).
Before joining the Department of Justice, he worked for three years as an assistant attorney general with the Arizona Attorney General’s Office (1988 to 1991).
Welty was an adjunct professor at Arizona State University and taught on a range of topics for the United States Department of Justice and the State Bar of Arizona. He also co-chaired the New Judge Orientation Program for the Arizona Supreme Court.
Welty received a B.A. in political science from Loyola Marymount University in 1985. He went on to complete a J.D. at Georgetown University Law Center in 1988.
Welty sat as chair of the Arizona Supreme Court’s Criminal Rules Task Force and the Task Force on Rule 32 of the Arizona Rules of Criminal Procedure.
From a civic standpoint, he has been involved with Habitat for Humanity and served on the board of a local youth sports program.
Welty was born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona.