Judge Mark E. Johnson has served as a Superior Court Judge in Riverside County for 2009.  He currently presides over the Riverside County Veterans and Mental Health Courts. 

Judge Johnson was appointed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger as a Superior Court Judge in March 2009 and was reelected to the position in June 2010.  Since his appointment, Judge Johnson has been assigned to civil, probate, felony trial, and mental health and veterans courts.  Judge Johnson also serves on the Riverside Superior Court’s criminal law advisory committee and the Riverside County Veterans Advisory Committee, and serves on the Board of Directors of Inland Empire Champions for Collaborative Courts, a charitable foundation supporting the collaborative courts of Riverside and San Bernardino Counties.  Judge Johnson has also served as a consultant for American University on issues relating to veterans courts. 

Beginning in August 2011, Judge Johnson chaired a committee comprised of several Riverside County agencies and the United States Department of Veterans Affairs to develop the first Riverside County Veterans Court.  The Court was opened on 1 January 2012, and has been in operation since that date.  The now presently supervises 65 veterans on probation suffering from military related trauma such as post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury who have served in combat in Vietnam, Grenada, Bosnia, Kosovo, Panama, Djibouti, Iraq and Afghanistan.

Judge Johnson is also a retired Colonel of the United States Army Reserve.  During 28 years of active and reserve service, Judge Johnson served in a variety of positions, to include command judge advocate, company commander, battalion commander, and division chief of operations.  His service included a deployment to Baghdad, Iraq from 2003-2004, where he served as the Chief of the Government Support Team, 1st Cavalry Division.  For his service in this position and his role in the development of democracy in the Republic of Iraq, Judge Johnson was awarded the bronze star medal by General Peter Chiarelli in 2004 and personally honored by United States Senator Dianne Feinstein in a ceremony held in 2005.

Judge Johnson has received several awards and decorations from the military, to include the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star Medal, five awards of the Meritorious Medal, the Iraq Campaign Medal, the Korean Defense Service Medal, the Combat Action Badge, the Parachutist’s badge, as well numerous other decorations.    Judge Johnson retired from the United States Army on 1 October 2013. 

In his spare time, Judge Johnson enjoys hiking with his two dogs, travel and antique shopping.  He has one daughter – Erica – age 18.