OFFICIAL RELEASE · ORIGINAL ISSUER HEADLINE

Governor Katie Hobbs Announces Appointment of Sheena S. Chiang and Alexander W. Samuels to Arizona Court of Appeals, Division One

Arizona Governor’s Office

The issuing organization did not supply a publication date.

Added to The State & Nation: October 14, 2026

What this means

Hobbs named two lawyers to Arizona’s intermediate appellate bench on October 13: Sheena S. Chiang and Alexander W. Samuels will join Court of Appeals Division One. Chiang’s experience includes criminal defense, appeals and service as a Tempe judge pro tempore; Samuels is the state’s principal deputy solicitor general and previously led federal violent-crime prosecutions in Arizona. The vacancies arose from the retirements of David Gass and Samuel Thumma.

Official release

Source material from Arizona Governor’s Office. The wording below is the issuer’s statement.

Governor Katie Hobbs Announces Appointment of Sheena S. Chiang and Alexander W. Samuels to Arizona Court of Appeals, Division One

News Release

October 13, 2026

Phoenix, AZ – Today, Governor Katie Hobbs announced the appointment of Sheena S. Chiang and Alexander Samuels to Division One of the Arizona Court of Appeals.

Chiang has worked in private practice since 2020, handling criminal appeals and capital trial defense. She has also served as a judge pro tempore on the Tempe Municipal Court since 2022. She previously served in the Pima County Public Defender’s Office and Maricopa County Office of the Legal Defender. Chiang began her career as a law clerk for the Honorable Terry L. Chandler of the Pima County Superior Court.

Samuels has served as Principal Deputy Solicitor General in the Arizona Attorney General’s Office since 2023. Previously, he was Chief of the Violent Crimes Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona. Samuels also served as a law clerk for the Honorable Andrew D. Hurwitz, first on the Arizona Supreme Court and subsequently on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

The appointments are to fill the vacancies created by the retirement of Judges David B. Gass and Samuel A. Thumma.

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