Michael J. Carrozzo Censured Removed

Santa Barbara County Superior Court Judge Michael J. Carrozzo repeatedly held himself out as a practicing attorney to represent Sara Eklund — at the time his court assistant, whom he later married — despite California's rules explicitly barring sitting judges from practicing law. He created letterhead reading "Michael J. Carrozzo Attorney at Law" and, in 2019, signed a letter to an insurance company stating he represented Eklund and that all future correspondence should go through him.

Separately, in 2020, Carrozzo used his official judicial email account — his title and the court's own seal appearing below his signature — to send correspondence attempting to secure his and Eklund's child a spot at an elite school. The California Commission on Judicial Performance found this and similar conduct constituted a clear misuse of the prestige of judicial office for personal gain.

The Commission's censure order documents 10 separate acts of willful misconduct and 9 acts of prejudicial misconduct, spanning more than two years. Under a signed agreement with the Commission, Carrozzo took approved leave beginning in June 2025 and resigned that September — permanently barred from ever serving as a judicial officer in California again.