Tari Lynn Cody was born on March 7, 1959, in Glendora, California, and grew up in Southern California. She attended the University of California, Irvine on an athletic scholarship, graduating cum laude with degrees in economics and anthropology. Her education combined social-science study with preparation for a legal career in California.
Cody received a Bachelor of Arts from the University of California, Irvine, in 1981, graduating cum laude with degrees in economics and anthropology. The university, founded in 1965 as part of the University of California system, developed as a research institution in Orange County during the expansion of public higher education in postwar California.
She received her Juris Doctor from Loyola Law School in Los Angeles in 1985. Loyola Law School, founded in 1920 and affiliated with Loyola Marymount University, is a Catholic legal institution whose program has served the legal profession and public institutions of Los Angeles and Southern California.
Cody began practicing law in 1985 at Nordman, Cormany, Hair & Compton in Oxnard, where she worked as an associate and later became a partner. Her practice included civil litigation, real-property litigation, commercial law, public-agency representation, construction and contract disputes, employment disputes, condemnation matters, and business torts.
In 1994, she joined Lemieux & O’Neill in Westlake Village, continuing civil and commercial litigation and acting as general counsel to several public agencies. Her public-agency work included advice concerning public meetings, conflicts of interest, public-works projects, and employment disputes. The firm provided a private-practice setting in which her litigation experience developed before her appointment to the bench.
Governor Gray Davis appointed Cody to the Ventura County Superior Court in December 2000. During more than two decades on that court, she presided over family-law, civil, criminal, appellate, probate, and juvenile matters and served for several years as supervising juvenile judge. Her juvenile assignments included dependency cases, adoptions, and guardianships, areas in which she also contributed to judicial education.
Governor Gavin Newsom nominated Cody to the Second District Court of Appeal, Division Six, in January 2023. The Commission on Judicial Appointments unanimously confirmed her, and she began serving as an associate justice on April 17, 2023. In August 2026, she was unanimously confirmed as presiding justice of Division Six, a Ventura-based appellate division of the California Court of Appeal.
Cody contributed to judicial education and administration in family and juvenile law through service on the California Judicial Council's Family and Juvenile Law Advisory Committee and the Small Court Dependency Workload Working Group.
As a California appellate justice, Cody became presiding justice of Division Six of the Second District Court of Appeal in 2026 after more than two decades on the Ventura County Superior Court.
Cody's professional and civic memberships have centered on California legal organizations, judicial education, family and juvenile law, and services addressing violence and reproductive health. She served on the Ventura County Bar Association Board of Directors and was president of Women Lawyers of Ventura County.
Her organizational work also included service with the Coalition to End Family Violence, Planned Parenthood's local chapter, the Ventura County Inns of Court, and the California Judges Association's Juvenile Court Judges Committee. Through the Judicial Council's Family and Juvenile Law Advisory Committee and related workload group, she participated in the development of judicial guidance, legislation, court rules, and forms concerning family and juvenile law.
Saint Thomas More Law Honor Society , United States
1985
Served on the Board of Directors in 1993 and 1994.
Ventura County Bar Association , United States
1993
State Bar of California , United States
1985
California Women Lawyers , United States
Served as president in 1988 and 1989.
Women Lawyers of Ventura County , United States
1988
Served as a board member.
Coalition to End Family Violence , United States
2003 - 2004
Served as president and board member of the local chapter.
Planned Parenthood , United States
1990 - 1991
Served as president from 2014 to 2016.
Jerome H. Berenson Chapter for Ventura County Inns of Court , United States
Served as a member and later co-chair.
Judicial Council of California Family and Juvenile Law Advisory Committee , United States
2016
Served as a member.
Small Court Dependency Workload Working Group , United States
2016
Served on the executive board and legislative committee.
Juvenile Court Judges Committee of the California Judges Association , United States
California judicial officials and professional organizations have described Cody as intelligent, courteous, compassionate, and attentive to the care with which she makes judicial decisions. Her public judicial work has been especially associated with juvenile and family-law education and administration.
Quotes from others about the person
Ventura County Superior Court officials described Cody as respected by peers and attorneys for her intelligence, judicial demeanor, and care in making judicial decisions.
Cody is the daughter of Donna Lee (Campbell) Cody and Robert Daniel Cody. She is married to Daniel John Little.
