Governor Brown appoints Deputy Public Defender Kelly Neel to the bench

EUREKA – Humboldt County’s back logged court system will get some help in the new year. Governor Brown has appointed Deputy Public Defender Kelly Neel to the bench.
Neel has served in the North Coast legal system for more than a decade.
She currently works in the Humboldt County Public Defender’s Office. Before that she served as a Deputy District Attorney in both Humboldt and Del Norte counties.
Since her legal career began in 1999, Neel has worked as county counsel, public defender, prosecutor and private attorney.
She fills the vacancy left by Judge Timothy Cissna’s retirement and will take the gavel at the end of January.