The Honorable Cecil B. Patterson Jr. was the first African-American to be appointed a superior court judge in Maricopa County. He was sworn into that role in 1980. Former Arizona Governor J. Fife Symington appointed him to the State Court of Appeals in 1995, again the first Black in that position. The Virginia native graduated in 1963 from Hampton University, served five years in the U.S. Air Force and earned a law degree from Arizona State University. He worked as a public defender with Legal Services and later as chief counsel in the Human Services Division of the Arizona Attorney General’s Office. His judicial roles spanned trial divisions of both juvenile and criminal departments. Judge Patterson, recipient of many awards, was a faculty associate for ASU’s College of Business Administration. He served as chair of the Valley of the Sun YMCA and chair of the Valley of the Sun United Way, He was a member of area NAACP Civil Rights Committee, and the boards of the Samarian Health Services, Maricopa County Red Cross, Arizona Academy board, Maricopa County Legal Aid Phoenix Urban League and Concerned Black Citizens of Tempe. He was elected moderator for the Presbytery of Grand Canyon. Formerly of Tempe, he lives in Chandler.
2026 Tempe Legend – Cecil B. Patterson, Jr.
