Tom Hallinan, the city attorney for the city of Ceres, has been elected chairman of the California Law Revision Commission.

Attorney Jane McAllister of Hilmar, has been elected Vice-Chairperson. The term of office is one year, ending on August 31, 2018.

The Law Revision Commission is a state agency responsible for studying problem areas in California law and recommending needed reforms to the Governor and Legislature. The Commission's current workload includes studies of the application of mediation confidentiality in certain types of cases, the application of family protections and creditor claims to nonprobate transfers, and the reorganization and clean up of the Fish and Game Code and California Public Records Act.

Hallinan was appointed to the Commission in 2015 by Gov. Jerry Brown. He received his Juris Doctorate degree from the Lincoln Law School in Sacramento. He is a partner with Churchwell White LLP and has served as city/special district attorney for a dozen of local governmental agencies over the past 22 years. Active in the Central Valley City Attorney Association, Hallinan is the current Valley representative to the League of California Cities Legal Advocacy Committee.

He previously served as a law clerk for the Judicial Council of California, and in the misdemeanor division of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of California.

A Yosemite Community College District board trustee since 1996, Hallinan was also appointed by former Gov. Gray Davis to the 38th District Agricultural Association where he served from 2000 to 2004.

Hallinan lives in Ceres with wife Anna Marie, the chairwoman of the Stanislaus County Parks Commission, and their son Logan, a sophomore at Central Valley High School.