The Hon. Ruth Bermudez Montenegro is a U.S. Magistrate Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California, Imperial Valley Division. She was appointed to the District Court in 2018.
Judge Montenegro received her B.A. from Clarion University of Pennsylvania in 1989. She went on to earn her J.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law in 1992.
Montenegro began her legal career in private practice after joining the law firm of Horton, Knox, Carter, and Foote LLP as an attorney in 1993. She remained with the firm until 2000.
It was at that time that Montenegro joined the Imperial Community College District where she served as the director of human resources and the affirmative action officer for the district. Two years later, Montenegro then became an attorney and assistant superintendent for the El Centro Elementary School District, where she would serve until 2011.
Montenegro left the school district to become an assistant county counsel for the Imperial County Counsel's Office and would hold that position until receiving a call to the state bench in 2012.
She was then appointed by former Governor Jerry Brown to serve as a judge for the Imperial County Superior Court. Judge Montenegro would hold her judicial position until losing the election the following year. She would serve as a family support commissioner until regaining her Superior Court seat via an election in 2014. Judge Montenegro would remain on the bench until her appointment to the District Court in 2018.
Judge Montenegro was born and raised in the Imperial Valley in California. Besides herself, her two sisters, Nadia Bermudez and the Hon. Eran Bermudez, all hold law degrees. Judge Eran Bermudez was appointed to serve as a judge of the Imperial Valley County Superior Court in 2018, filling the vacancy created by her sister's appointment to the District Court. Her sister Nadia, has worked as a partner at a local law firm.