Colville Attorney To Seek Judgeship

Colville attorney Andrew Braff is the first announced candidate for the Superior Court judgeship from which Fred Stewart will retire at the end of the year.

Braff, 47, ran a close race against Stewart in 1994. Stewart took 50.8 percent of the vote in the judicial district that serves Stevens, Pend Oreille and Ferry counties.

In his only previous bid for public office, Braff retained the Stevens County prosecutor’s job he got by appointment in 1976 after serving as a deputy prosecutor. He left the prosecutor’s office in late 1977 to go into private practice.

His longtime clients include the city of Colville and the Northeast Tri-County Health District.

Braff also has been the Stevens County Superior and District Court commissioner almost 10 years and has been the county’s hearing examiner for two years. Becoming a judge would be “a natural career progression,” he said.

Braff said he is concerned about rising juvenile crime in the three-county judicial district, and strongly supports the planned Martin Hall regional juvenile detention at Medical Lake.

, DataTimes