Wendy S Morton

Commissioner

Superior Court of Arizona

Honorable Wendy S. Morton is a Commissioner for the Superior Court of Arizona in Maricopa County. She is currently assigned to the Juvenile Department. In 2017, Commissioner Morton created the CANVAS program which provided creative outlets for Family Treatment Court, Mental Health and Veterans Court participants. CANVAS was awarded a National Association of Counties Award in 2017 and was recognized nationally as being one of 100 “Brilliant Ideas at Work”. Prior to her current assignment, she served in the Criminal Department in Rule 11/Mental Health and Veterans Court and in the Family Court Department, where she served as Presiding Family Court Commissioner. Commissioner Morton began her legal career as a Special Deputy County Attorney with the Pinal County Attorney’s Office. From 1993-2002, she was a Deputy Maricopa County Attorney. In 1997, Commissioner Morton was named the State Bar of Arizona’s Attorney of the Year for Law Related Education and the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office Juvenile Division Attorney of the Year. In 2002, she was appointed an Administrative Law Judge with the Arizona Office of Administrative Hearings, where she served as an Assistant Presiding Judge. From 2006-2010, she served as a Municipal Court Judge in Scottsdale. In 2009, Commissioner Morton received the Award for Judicial Excellence (now the Michael D. Ryan Award for Judicial Excellence) from the Public Lawyer’s Section of the State Bar of Arizona. She has also served on the Phoenix Municipal Court bench.

Commissioner Morton has served on the State Bar Public Lawyer’s Section Executive Council since 2006, serving as chair in 2010. She is a past chair of the Arizona Attorney Magazine Editorial Board, was co-chair of 2008 and 2009 Bar Conventions and was a member of the Board of Directors of the Arizona Foundation for Legal Services and Education. From 2010-15, she served as Adjunct Professor of Law at the Arizona Summit School of Law.

In 2011, Commissioner Morton wrote, produced and directed a seven-part documentary series for the Arizona Supreme Court entitled “Legends of the Arizona Judiciary”, which highlights trailblazing judges in Arizona’s legal history. Commissioner Morton is also the author/illustrator of four books: “Court Story”, a nationally award-winning coloring book that teaches children about the court system, a children’s book called “Flipper and Dipper and the Treasures of 6 Bird”, whose proceeds are donated to the Syracuse University to honor her classmates lost aboard Pan Am 103 in 1988, “Flipper and Dipper in the Royal Wedding” and “Brush with the Big Easy: Watercolors to Celebrate a City.”

Commissioner Morton is a 1989 graduate of Syracuse University, where she obtained her dual degree in Broadcast Journalism and Political Science. In 1992, she obtained her Juris Doctorate from Widener University School of Law in Wilmington, Delaware. Commissioner Morton is admitted to practice law in Arizona, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.