Padden Can Put Off Running Until ‘96

Mike Padden, Spokane’s new District Court judge, has the luxury of not running for a full term until next year.

Appointed by county commissioners in March, the former legislator is the beneficiary of an old attorney general’s office opinion.

District Court judges only run for election in even-numbered years, according to the opinion.

“It’s fine,” Padden said. “I can wait another year.”

Since his appointment, he has been hearing mostly civil cases. He replaced Judge Raymond Tanksley Jr., who died of cancer. , DataTimes