Gov. Gary Locke ended a run of dominoes with two judicial appointments Wednesday.

The resignation of Appeals Court Judge Philip Thompson set off the dominoes. Locke named Spokane County Superior Court Judge Ken Kato to fill Thompson’s post.

Kato has been a Superior Court judge since 1996 and served as commissioner of the appeals court for eight years before that.

In making the appointment, Locke praised Kato’s “tremendous intellectual abilities and down-to-earth style.”

Kato’s nomination opened up a seat on the Superior Court. Locke named Spokane attorney Linda Tompkins as Kato’s replacement during the same ceremony in the Spokane County Courthouse.

Tompkins, who currently works for the firm of Lukins & Annis, will fill Kato’s seat as soon as he moves up.

“We did not want to create a backlog of court cases in the system,” Locke said.

He described Tompkins as someone “in touch with people” from her experience as a past president of the Central Valley School Board, a director of the local food bank and a member of the state Transportation Commission.

Tompkins’ appointment closes a circle of sorts. She was Thompson’s first law clerk when he was appointed to the appeals court in 1984.

Kato will make $106,537 per year as an appeals judge, and Tompkins will make $100,995 as a trial judge.

Both take on their new jobs in mid-October.

, DataTimes