COLUSA, CA (MPG) – Albert G. Spalding once said, “Baseball gives a growing boy self-pose and self-reliance.”
The 19th-century pitcher, manager, and executive in the early years of professional baseball could have been talking about Colusa native Luke Steidlmayer, who was sworn in as Colusa County Superior Court Judge on Jan. 3, but Steidlmayer, the 44-year-old former San Diego Padres pitcher, might disagree.
A team player, Steidlymayer credited his wife, Erin, his parents, role models, predecessors, and colleagues for his ascension to the bench.
“When I was a kid, I didn’t dream of being a lawyer – and I didn’t dream of being a judge,” Steidlymayer said, addressing the packed courtroom of the historic Colusa County Courthouse for the first time. “I had a one-track mind that I was going to play baseball and that was it. And everything I did was with that in mind, and it wasn’t an easy path.”
Although a striking presence, Steidlymayer, the 12th judge of the Colusa County Superior Court, was exceptionally unassuming at his investiture ceremony last Friday, with his family, friends, and the legal community in attendance.
Steidlymayer is the son of Leo and Cindy Steidlymayer, of Colusa. He attended schools in the Colusa Unified School District from kindergarten and graduated from Colusa High School in 1998, where he was an accomplished athlete. He earned his undergraduate degree in economics in 2002 from the University of California, in Davis, where he was named Male Co-Athlete of the Year and Baseball All-American.
He played in the minor league of the San Diego Padres organization for five years, living and traveling all over the country.
“I’m pretty sure he is the only Colusa County judge that could ever say that,” said the Hon. Elizabeth Ufkes Olivera, who administered Steidlmayer’s oath of office.
After his release from professional baseball, Steidlmayer attended Santa Clara University, where he fell in love with school, law, and his future wife. He received his Juris Doctor in 2010 and began his career as a civil litigator at the Sacramento-based law firm of Downey Brand LLP.
In 2013, Steidlmayer returned to Colusa, where he and Erin, also an attorney, worked for his father’s law firm while volunteering in the community and raising their three children, Clay, 11; Ryan, 8; and Leilani, 6. Steidlymayer coaches youth baseball and is on the board of directors of the Rotary Club of Colusa.
Like Olivera, Steidlymayer worked as a private civil attorney focused on real property, agriculture, and business. New Presiding Judge Brendan Farrell, 42, who was sworn in last fall, and his predecessor, the Hon. Jeffrey A. Thompson, who has served since 2008, worked in the criminal court system before their appointments to the bench.
Thompson retired at the end of 2023 but has continued to hear cases. Olivera, who made history in 2010 as the first woman judge to serve Colusa County, did not seek reelection in the March 5, 2024, Presidential Primary and allowed the electorate to select her successor.
Steidlymayer ran for the judgeship without contest and welcomed the chain of events that surprised even him. He praised his wife for helping him pursue the position, his parents and siblings for their undying support, and the community for the opportunity given him to serve.
“I appreciate the community so much,” Steidlmayer said. “I think we are in a really good space in Colusa County right now. We have people in positions who are trying to do the right thing. We might not agree with all decisions that are made, but we have people with integrity who want to see Colusa in a better place, and I’m happy to play a small part in that.”
After Steidlymayer signed his oath, Erin Steidlymayer helped him into his black robe, a well-known and almost universal symbol of the judicial role across the country, with their three children at his side.
In addition to his parents, two of his four siblings and their families attended the ceremony, as did his wife’s parents, Tim and Beth Sasan, of Fairfax.
The seating of Farrell and Steidlymayer represents a well-balanced, but generational change in the Colusa County Superior Court, and Steidlymayer acknowledged that both will lean on their predecessors and colleagues throughout the region as it makes the transition.
“I want to do well here…” Steidlymayer said. “The bottom line is, I am so honored and humbled to be in this position. I’m excited to go through the ups and downs that are inevitable with any new position.”
A reception was held at Rocco’s Banquet Room, in Colusa, following the ceremony.