Women In Business with the Honorable Judge Shauna Graves-Robertson

Judge Shauna Graves-Robertson sits as a Salt Lake County Justice Court Judge, where she has served for twenty-four years.  She is the only African American female judge ever appointed or elected to serve in the state of Utah. In a court of limited jurisdiction, she presides over class B & C misdemeanors, violations of county ordinances, infractions and small claims up to ten thousand dollars.  Judge Robertson’s court is responsible for processing over 11,000 cases a year. 

She was born and raised in Salt Lake City, Utah.  A product of the public school system she graduated from West High School in 1976.  She graduated from Arizona State University in 1980 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice.  As an undergraduate she participated in the Washington Semester program through American University in Washington District of Columbia, (D.C). While living in D.C she worked for Senator Orrin Hatch and it was there that she gained her love for the law.  She received a Master of Arts in Public Administration in 1987 and Juris Doctor in 1990 from the University of Utah. A lifelong learner and lover of travel, Judge Robertson has completed study tours to New Zealand, Great Britain, China, Morocco and  Dubai.   

Judge Robertson currently serves as the chairman the National Bar Association Judicial Council and chairman of Utah Supreme Court Community Relations Committee. She is a life member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated (AKA). She is the current Far Western Regional Representative to the International Membership Committee of AKA. She is a member of the American Bar Association, National Association of Women Judges (NAWJ), The Women Lawyers of Utah, Utah Minority Bar Association and the Utah Women’s Forum. 

In addition to her judicial role, she has provided organizational training and consulting services in the areas of diversity and empowerment to major corporations and organizations throughout the United States and Canada since 1991. For her dedicated service to the citizens of the state of Utah in 2007 she received the Racial Justice Award from the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA), the Martin Luther King Jr. Drum Major Award in 2008, from the MLK state wide commission and from the Iota Iota Iota Chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Incorporated, the Social Justice/Civil Rights Award in 2013, the 2014 Meritorious Service Award from the Ogden Branch of the NAACP and an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Salt Lake Community College May 5, 2017. 

Judge Robertson is a member of the Calvary Baptist Church where she has served under the tutelage of Pastor France A. Davis for more than forty-three years.  She is married to her best friend John E. Robertson.  The couple has three daughters, Jacquenita, Jordan and Joei Robertson.