New Court Commissioner appointed for South Lake Tahoe

The El Dorado County Superior Court has announced the appointment of Douglas R. Hoffman as Court Commissioner. Hoffman will be based in South Lake Tahoe but will serve in all of the branches in El Dorado County. He will hear all case types, but will specialize in cases involving family law, child support, domestic violence and civil harassment, juvenile dependency and delinquency, traffic, limited civil cases, as well as overflow matters as assigned by the Presiding Judge.

Hoffman has a long career in law. He operated his own law firm in Placer County for over 20 years with a general practice which included civil litigation, personal injury, criminal defense, family law, and juvenile law. Early in his career, Mr. Hoffman served as a temporary judge, handling traffic and misdemeanor criminal offenses as well as family law matters. He also contracted with Placer County to be a hearing officer, conducting mental health commitment proceedings for approximately five years. Most recently he was employed as a Senior Associate Attorney with the Law Firm of Denise L. Dirks.

Mr. Hoffman has also been highly involved in his community in Placer County, serving four years as Placer County Planning Commissioner, as a member of the Granite Bay Municipal Advisory Commission and as a member of the Drug and Alcohol Board and the Mental Health Board.

Mr. Hoffman is bilingual, having studied music and Spanish at Brigham Young University. He received his Juris Doctorate from Lincoln Law School of Sacramento, where he received the Trial Advocacy Award. He continues his love of music by performing with the Sacramento Symphonic Winds and the Rancho Cordova Civic Light Orchestra. Mr. Hoffman and his wife of 37 years have six children and thirteen grandchildren.

Mr. Hoffman began his commissioner duties on March 16, 2015. Court commissioners are subordinate judicial officers employed by the Court. They can be assigned by the Presiding Judge to a variety of calendars including Family Law, Probate, Traffic and Civil/Small Claims.