David Ige has appointed City and County of Honolulu Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Sonja McCullen to the Intermediate Court of Appeals. If confirmed by the State Senate, McCullen will fill the vacancy left by the retirement of Associate Judge Derrick H.M. Chan last October.

“Sonja McCullen possesses the legal skills, knowledge, and temperament to serve the people of Hawaiʻi on the Intermediate Court of Appeals,” said Gov. Ige.

McCullen has served in her role as a Deputy Prosecuting Attorney for a combined 11 years, most recently in the Appellate Division. Previously, she worked as an investigator for the Crime Victim Commission, was a staff attorney for United Public Workers, a judicial education specialist for the State of Hawaiʻi Judiciary, and law clerk for the Hon. Paula A. Nakayama, Hawaiʻi Supreme Court.

In addition, McCullen was also a social studies, Hawaiian studies, and Hawaiian Language teacher at Waiʻanae High School for nearly five years, where she created curriculum and instructed classes, to perpetuate Hawaiian culture for the next generation.

McCullen earned a B.A. in Liberal and Hawaiian studies from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, as well as a professional diploma in secondary education. She then went on to earn her J.D. from the William S. Richardson School of Law.

“It is with great honor and humility that I receive the appointment to the Intermediate Court of Appeals by Gov. Ige,” said McCullen. “From the start of my career as a teacher at Waiʻanae High School, to my ten plus years working in the Appellate Division of the Department of the Prosecuting Attorney of the City and County of Honolulu, I have dedicated myself to public service. If confirmed by the Senate, I will continue to work my hardest in this new role, with the same spirit of public service and aloha for Hawaiʻi and all its people.”

McCullen’s appointment is subject to Senate confirmation.