New Magistrate A Familiar Name Patrick Mcfadden Replaces His Father In Benewah County

Patrick McFadden will be walking in his father’s footsteps when he takes over as the new Benewah County magistrate next month.

The St. Maries attorney was chosen for the judge’s position Tuesday - a position his father, Richard McFadden, held before him.

“I think my interest in a career in the judiciary was formed when my dad had the job and I was going to law school and watching him,” Patrick McFadden said Tuesday. “I always thought I would like to become a judge one day.”

Patrick McFadden will replace Peter Hutchinson, who was voted out of office in November. McFadden will be sworn in Feb. 17.

McFadden, 38, is a Benewah County native, born and raised in St. Maries. He received both his undergraduate and law degree from the University of Idaho in Moscow.

After graduating from law school in 1984, he opened a private law practice with his father in St. Maries.

The McFadden family has a history in the Benewah County legal community that stretches back to the early 1900s.

Patrick McFadden’s father, Richard, was the Benewah County prosecutor from 1952 to 1960. He was the Benewah County magistrate from 1977 to 1985.

The new magistrate’s grandfather began the tradition.

“My father came out from the east and homesteaded in Plummer in 1907,” said Richard McFadden, 67. “Dad practiced law in Plummer until he died in 1946.”

Richard McFadden said he remembers his son, then a law student, coming to watch him work when he was the magistrate.

“I’ve had a lot of respect for the judiciary through the years,” Patrick McFadden said Tuesday. “I’ve been an advocate for clients for 10 years. I just felt like it was my calling to be the person who would make the decision as opposed to advocating for one side or another.”

“He’s an even-tempered kind of guy and I think that’s what it takes to be a good magistrate,” Richard McFadden said.