The Honorable Ricardo S. Martinez is a United States District Judge for the United States District Court in Seattle, Washington. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Washington, Seattle (1975), and a Juris Doctorate degree from the University of Washington School of Law, Seattle (1980).

He is currently the chair of the Ninth Circuit Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee and is a member of the Federal District Court Judges Association.  He serves as the Ninth Circuit representative to the Criminal Law Committee of the U.S. Judicial Conference.  Currently serving as a United States District Judge for the Western District of Washington, he was nominated by President George H. Bush on October 12, 2003 and confirmed by the Senate on June 15, 2004.

Prior to that appointment he served as a United States Magistrate Judge for the Western District of Washington from June of 1998 to June of 2004.  He served for almost nine years as a Judge of the Superior Court for King County. He was appointed to that position by Governor Booth Gardner on March 23, 1990.  He took his oath of office on April 17, 1990 and was elected unopposed for every term until his appointment to Federal Court. Judge Martinez has served as a general trial judge in the Civil, Criminal and Juvenile departments of Superior Court.  During his tenure on the Superior Court bench he gained extensive experience in all aspects of case disposition including serving as the trial judge in a death penalty case.  He was responsible for the inception of the first Drug Diversion Court in the state of Washington.  He served as the Drug Court Judge in King County from 1994 to 1997.