Sonia is the right choice for Deschutes County judge
– Here's her story.
Sonia Huntsman grew up in small-town Utah. Her values were shaped by her close-knit community, who taught her the value of connection and showing up for others. She also learned from her family, particularly her father, an attorney who fought for civil rights. As a child, she saw close up that taking a stand, especially when it was unpopular, can make a meaningful impact in the community. Sonia was raised with a deep respect for our constitution, our laws, and for taking our disputes through the court system, which inspired her to pursue law in her own career.
Sonia came to Oregon to attend college, and went on to attend Willamette University Law School, graduating with the Roy Lockenour Award for professional responsibility. Her first job out of law school was clerking for a senior judge, Judge Darryl Larson, in Lane County. Through this clerkship, Sonia saw firsthand the incredible good a fair, respectful judge can do in our communities.
After her clerkship, Sonia moved to Bend, becoming a public defender. As her career progressed, she opened her own law firm focusing on criminal and family law, and served as an attorney representative on the Deschutes Family Drug Court.
At every step in her career, she’s applied the values she learned: advocating for others, treating everyone with dignity, and giving back to her community.
During the pandemic, seeing the urgent need, Sonia became a teacher – working in a local Title I school with English language learners and students with special needs. Sonia taught first as a student teacher, then a teacher, and then as a library instructor for elementary students. At the same time, she worked to achieve her master’s degree in teaching at Oregon State University – Cascade Campus.
Returning to the law in 2024, Sonia joined the Crook County District Attorney’s office as a deputy district attorney. She prosecuted felonies and misdemeanors including sex abuse and assault. She served as the president of a local bar association. Most recently, she again became a public defender – working with criminal defendants that cannot afford an attorney.
When not working, Sonia loves reading, hiking, painting, and spending time with her son Owen, their cat Luna, and their dog Shadow. She lives in Bend, where she has strong ties to the community and makes it a priority to connect with and help others. Some of her favorite roles have been serving as President of the 22nd Circuit Bar Association and leading the Wildcat Tutoring Program for elementary school students.
Sonia has a unique blend of substantial criminal, civil, and family law experience, which will serve her well on the bench, which hears cases of all kinds.
Sonia has invested many years of her career handling cases that affect our community’s families, and is especially passionate about advocating for children. She’s fought for her family law clients all the way to the Court of Appeals in both Oregon and Utah. Sonia even won a family law appeal in Oregon, which is quite rare, as the vast majority of cases are affirmed on appeal.
Additionally, Sonia has worked on hundreds of major criminal cases, including violent crimes like sex abuse, assault, and attempted murder, as both a prosecutor and defense attorney. Her criminal law experience includes:
Crook County Deputy District Attorney
Public Defender for the 22nd Circuit Defenders
Deschutes County Domestic Violence Taskforce
Governor’s Methamphetamine Task Force
Sonia has a deep understanding regarding the complexities of criminal, civil, and family law cases. She will bring her knowledge of the law - and how to apply that law to the facts of each case - to the bench.
She also knows that coming to court is often a person’s worst day, and most are unfamiliar with the legal system. Sonia knows how to treat people with respect and dignity so that they can access justice.
Sonia’s Legal Experience:
Sonia can’t do this alone!
Make a contribution to her campaign here.