BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) -- Keenan Perkins, of Bakersfield has been appointed by Governor Gavin Newsom to serve as a judge to the Kern County Superior Court. Perkins has served as a court commissioner since 2023, and as a private attorney from 2012 to 2023. Perkins served as a Deputy Public Defender in the Kern County Public Defender's Office from 2007 to 2011. Convicted escaped murderer Cesar Hernandez was ‘given a key or made a handcuff key’: Sheriff Youngblood Before that, he was an attorney at Thomas Anton & Associates from 2006 to 2007. Perkins earned his law degree from Southwestern Law School, and fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Therese Foley.