Mesa Appoints Two New Municipal Court Magistrates

Mesa Appoints Two New Municipal Court Magistrates

Mesa City Council has appointed Judges Geoffrey Balon and Amy Haley as new Municipal Court Magistrates. Both magistrates were sworn in this evening during the Mesa City Council meeting. Mesas Municipal Court Presiding Magistrate, Judge Stephen Umpleby, administered the Judicial Oath.

Judge Balon holds a B.A. and J.D. from The University of Arizona and has completed executive leadership coursework at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. Before his appointment as a judge, he served as a civil attorney in the Mesa City Attorneys Office, advising the Mesa Police Department. His previous roles include Deputy County Attorney at the Maricopa County Attorneys Office, where he prosecuted violent and organized crime, and Judicial Law Clerk at the Arizona Supreme Court. He is an active member of the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) and was appointed to the IACPs Human and Civil Rights Committee in 2024. Judge Balon also volunteers at Feed My Starving Children and has held leadership roles in the legal community, including as a graduate of the Anti-Defamation Leagues Glass Leadership Institute and former Chair of the Phoenix Jewish Federations Cardozo Society.

Amy Haley earned her law degree in 2004 from the University of Miami School of Law in Coral Gables, Florida.Judge Haley began her career in public service as an assistant public defender in 2005 for the 11th Judicial Circuit in Miami, Florida. An Arizona native, she returned to the valley in 2007 to be closer to her family and engaged in private practice as a civil trial attorney. She served as the managing trial attorney for Nationwide Insurances Trial Division and was ultimatelyappointed Administrative Law Judge for the Office of Administrative Hearings. Mrs. Haley has also served as a Judge Pro Tempore for the City of Mesa since 2022, covering various criminal dockets based on the needs of the court.She is an active volunteer in helping those experiencing homelessness at Andre's House of Hospitality as well as St. Vincent De Paul.