Hon. Louraine Arkfeld

Judge Louraine C. Arkfeld retired as the Presiding Judge for the Tempe Municipal Court after twenty-six years on the bench and currently engages in international consulting work for courts in developing countries.  She was the winner of the 2005 William H. Rehnquist Award for Judicial Excellence, the 2006 Hero in Women’s Mental Health award and the 2012 Excellence in Leadership Education Award.

Judge Arkfeld served as the Judicial Member-at-Large of the ABA’s Board of Governors and as the chair of the Board’s Program, Evaluation and Planning Committee. She just completed her term as Chair of the ABA Senior Lawyers Division and on the Council on the ABA International Law Section and is a Past Chair of the Judicial Division of the ABA and the ABA Commission on the American Jury Project.  She serves on the Judicial Advisory Committee to the Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility.  She also served on the ABA Presidential Task Force on Human Trafficking and the ABA Center for Human Rights.  She previously chaired the ABA Working Group on the Rule of Law and an Independent Judiciary and served on the ABA’s Committee on the Research of the Future of the Legal Profession.

Judge Arkfeld also completed service on the Arizona Judicial Council and as Chair of the Serving Orders of Protection Task Force for the O’Connor House.  She chaired the Court Leadership Institute of Arizona and continues to teach in its Court Executive Program.  She also served on the Arizona Supreme Court Commission on Technology, the Arizona Commission on Judicial Conduct and the Trial Court Leadership Council for the National Center for State Courts.

In her community she is the Immediate Past President of the Board of Directors of the Tempe Community Council, Secretary of the Tempe Community Foundation Board, a member of the City of Tempe’s Dementia Friendly Community Action Team and participates in Arizona State University’s Women & Philanthropy program.