Pueblo of Pojoaque Chief Judge Kim McGinnis earned a Ph.D. in neuropharmacology from the University of Michigan in 1999 and completed a post-doctoral fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital, Department of Neurology, Molecular Neurogenetics Unit. Judge McGinnis graduated from Boston University School of Law in 2004. She clerked at the Michigan Court of Appeals before joining Detroit Legal Aid and Defenders as a felony-level public defender. In 2008, she became an assistant defender with the Michigan State Appellate Defender Office, where she was the principal appellate attorney investigating convictions tainted by Detroit Crime Lab malfeasance. In 2011, Judge McGinnis moved to Taos, New Mexico and practiced family law, primarily representing victims of domestic violence and sexual assault in state and tribal courts. The Pueblo of Pojoaque Tribal Council appointed her associate judge in 2013 and chief judge in 2015. Judge McGinnis presides over Pojoaque’s Path to Wellness Court, healing to wellness court, and Children’s Courts. She is also program director for Pojoaque’s Opioid Prevention and Intervention Project, Substance Use Disorder Pre-Prosecution Diversion Project. Domestic Violence Education and Outreach Project, and Sober Living/Re-Entry Pilot Project. Judge McGinnis is a member of the New Mexico Tribal-State Judicial Consortium.