Wilson replaces Maria Felix, who retires after more than 13 years on bench
PIMA COUNTY – The Pima County Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 on Tuesday, March 5 to appoint Kendrick Wilson to Justice of the Peace for Precinct 9.
Wilson most recently served as a prosecutor for the Pascua Yaqui Tribe. Prior to that, Wilson was a deputy county attorney with the Pima County Attorney’s Office.
Through his work with the Pascua Yaqui Tribe, Wilson won the tribal nation’s first jury trial conviction of a non-tribal member in 2017. The prosecution was the result of changes made to U.S. laws under the Violence Against Women Act. Prior to the changes, non-Native Americans were not subject to criminal prosecutions in tribal courts.
The Pascua Yaqui Tribe in 2013 was one of three tribal nations in the county to first be awarded special domestic-violence criminal jurisdiction. The recognition allows the prosecution of non-Native Americans when accused of domestic violence against tribal members on tribal lands, according to reporting in the Arizona Daily Star.
Wilson replaces Justice of the Peace Maria Felix, who retired after serving on the Pima County Justice Court bench since 2005. In 2012, Wilson worked with Felix in creating the Animal Welfare Court at Pima County Superior Court, which hears misdemeanor cases involving animal issues.
Wilson graduated from Georgetown University Law School. He was admitted to the Arizona State Bar Association in 2008.