Bernie BarmannBernard C. Barmann, Jr. (“Bernie”), class of 1984, is the Supervising Judge of the Civil Division of the Kern County Superior Court. He was appointed to the bench in December 2020 after a 30-year career as a civil litigation attorney.
Bernie was born in Ohio, moved to California at the age of four, and settled in Bakersfield’s Park Stockdale neighborhood when he was eight. After graduating from West, he earned a B.A. cum laude with a dual major in economics-accounting from Claremont McKenna College, where a faculty committee selected him for a 3-3 program with Columbia Law School. During the summer between college and law school he interned in Washington, D.C., for Bakersfield Congressman Bill Thomas. In his first year at Columbia, he was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar and in the top 25% of his class. He earned his J.D. in 1990 at the age of 23. While at West High, he was California’s first two-time state debate champion and had two top-10 finishes at nationals. As a junior in 1983, he and senior partner Traci Reitz Dougherty won West’s first state debate championship, besting 47 other debate teams that had qualified for the state tournament. In 1984 Bernie repeated as state champion, becoming the first student in California to win back-to-back state debate titles. At nationals he placed 5th in debate his senior year (out of more than 100 entries) and 8th as a junior. In addition to his success as a debater, he was also West’s first four-year state qualifier in speech, qualifying for the state tournament in Original Advocacy his freshman and sophomore years and placing 4th at state in extemporaneous speech as a senior after making the semifinals the previous year. He also lettered in swimming, was a member of a 1st place Senior Math Bowl team at the CSUB Math Field Day. He is a founding board member and President of the West High School Alumni Association, and was instrumental in the relaunching of speech and debate at West High. He is a member of Bakersfield West Rotary, where he received the Service Above Self Award for his work with the West High and Stockdale Interact Clubs, and currently sits on the board of Garden Pathways. In his private life, Bernie enjoys spending time with his wife Tracie, their five children, and their parents. He also enjoys playing the drums, cycling, camping, sailing and traveling. |