Sara Collins of Medford was appointed by Gov. Kotek to fill the seat of a retiring judge Joe Charter. 

When Sara Collins received a call earlier this month from Gov. Tina Kotek’s office saying that she was the chief executive’s choice to replace retiring Jackson County Circuit Court Judge Joe Charter, she did what many people who come face to face with the court often do — tell almost no one.

“Arguably, for me, it’s one of the most amazing phone calls I’ve received, and I can’t talk about it,” said Collins, a Medford-based defense attorney.

Her parents and husband knew, but it wasn’t until June 12, when Kotek issued a statement, that Collins, 50, could go public about the appointment she had wanted “in the back of my mind” for so long.

With her investiture slated for July 10, Collins is looking forward to serving the people of Jackson County. 

“I do want the public to have trust, broadly, in our system,” Collins said. 

She described her judicial philosophy of “procedural justice.”

“I believe that it’s important for the community to feel, when they go to court, that our justice system is fair,” Collins said, “that they had a fair proceeding or trial; that the judge was impartial; that it was trustworthy motives.”

When it comes to the job of judge, Collins admits she is going to need to “jump in and figure it out myself,” but one thing she does know is the court assigned her to begin with a “hybrid docket” of criminal and domestic relations cases.

“Those are busy court days,” Collins said. “I think the hybrid docket would be a good docket to start because it does give me the exposure to some of the dockets that have the higher cases coming through.”

For now, Collins is busy wrapping up her end of a practice she shares with Matt Rowan, who offered nothing but praise to his departing colleague. 

“Personally, (I’m) sad, but I’m so happy for her,” Rowan said. “It’s going to be an exciting opportunity that she can’t pass up. She’ll be a great judge.”

Judge Kelly Ravassipour, who got to know Collins when they were both defense attorneys, encouraged the new judge to apply for the position.

“Ms. Collins has always been very passionate about access to justice and representation for all people,” Ravassipour said.

Ravassipour believes Collins will make a good judge because she “has the ability to reserve judgment and really focus on the law that governs that case.”

Ravassipour spoke to Collins shortly after the appointment and told her, “welcome to the team.”

“I can say everyone through the building is excited to have her come,” Ravassipour said. “That speaks, I think, to her character. She’s so genuine.”

When Collins is not focused on work, she’s a devoted family person, Ravassipour said.

“She’s a mom, a wife, a daughter, a sister and a friend to many,” the judge said of Collins.

Collins was born at Rogue Valley Hospital, which is now Asante Rogue Regional Medical Center. She has one sister who lives outside the valley, but her father and mother — a retired airline pilot and flight attendant, respectively — still reside locally. 

In 1991, Collins graduated from South Medford High School, which back then was where the future Oakdale Middle School will be. 

After a stint at University of Colorado-Boulder, Collins graduated in 1995 with a political science degree from the University of Oregon, where she would later graduate from law school in 2001.

After law school, Collins fulfilled a dream of living in Alaska by moving to Anchorage to clerk for one judge taking criminal cases and another who took the civil docket. 

“I thought they did an amazing job being a judge and how they treated the public,” Collins said. “I thought, you know, gosh, one day, maybe I can be a judge — in the back of my mind.”

But the goal of being a judge did not happen overnight. Collins became a prosecutor in Anchorage before the bug bit her to come back to Oregon to try defense work. She did and got a job at Southern Oregon Public Defenders under her mentor, Burt Putney.

After a few other moves with her first husband, Collins returned to Medford. She spent 11 years working as a public defender before entering private practice.

Collins served as a volunteer pro tem judge from 2015 to 2018. For the last six years, she has served on the board of directors of La Clinica. She also serves on the Executive Committee of the Oregon State Bar’s Juvenile Law Section.

“I really enjoy practicing, I believe I will enjoy being on the bench,” Collins said.