Dave Byers

Dave Byers is the Arizona Supreme Court’s Director of the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC). He is responsible for overseeing the operations of the Arizona Court system with over 10,000 employees and a total budget of $740M. The system also operates both juvenile and adult probation and 13 juvenile detention centers. Byers began his career with the court in 1978 as the first Director of the Foster Care Review Board. Prior to being appointed Administrative Director by the Arizona Supreme Court in 1992, Byers past positions included Director of the Program Services Division, Director of Adult and Juvenile Probation, and Deputy Director of the Arizona Supreme Court.

Byers has also served as Chairman of the $45B Arizona State Retirement System; and is currently a member of the State Bar of Arizona Board of Governors, Vice-Chairman of the Arizona Criminal Justice Commission, a member of the Arizona Prosecuting Attorney’s Advisory Council, US Department of Justice Global Advisory Committee, and a member of The Board of the International Association of Court Administrators (IACA).

He is the Founder and first President of the National Association of Foster Care Reviewers, and Co-founder of the Arizona Friends of Foster Care Foundation which has provided millions of dollars to Arizona’s foster children over the past 40 years.

He served on the Board of Directors National Centers for State Courts in 2000-2001, and President of the Conference of State Court Administrators 2000-2001. He currently serves on the American Bar Association (ABA) Council for Legal Education and admissions to the bar.

In 2012, Byers was honored with the Gabe Zimmerman Leadership Award and received the 2013 Warren E. Burger Award. He is the recipient of the National Centers Distinguished Service Award, the COSCA Palmer Award, the Arizona Supreme Courts’ Distinguished Service Award, the State Bars’ Award of Appreciation and was the Cedar Falls, Iowa, Man of the Year in 1970.

Byers has a BA from Northern Iowa University and a master’s degree from Arizona State University. He is married to Linda, his wife, for 51 years, and has three children and five grandchildren.