Judge Ibarra was appointed as a Circuit Court Judge in 1989. He has been the Third Circuit’s Administrative Judge since 1993, and now serves as its Chief Judge. He was the first deputy prosecutor to staff the Kona office, and later became the County’s Corporation Counsel and Managing Director after practicing with the law firm of Goodsill, Anderson, Quinn and Stifel. He was on active duty from 1970-72 as a First Lieutenant and later in the U.S. Army Reserves as a Lieutenant Colonel.

Judge Ibarra continues to serve on 12 Judiciary committees and is currently the president of the Hawai`i State Trial Judges Association. He received the Judiciary’s Jurist of the Year Award in 2006, the Mayor’s Healing Our Island Award, the Hawai`i State Bar Association Frederick Schutte Award and the Rotary Award for Vocational Service.

Judge Ibarra received his law degree with honors from Santa Clara University School of Law.