Judge rules candidates can’t file for 10th seat

Would-be judicial candidates can’t file for a 10th Spokane County district court seat next week. A visiting judge said the position doesn’t exist until the county commissioners come up with the necessary money.

“It’s a political decision by the county commissioners whether to fund a district court, or any other service,” Stevens County Superior Court Judge Allen Nielson ruled this morning. “In the end, it’s the county commissioners that have to come up with the money and juggle these other things.”

Even though the Legislature authorized a tenth district court in Spokane County in 2002 – in part because county officials requested it – the commissioners have not budgeted the money for the courtroom, staff and judicial salary.

Nielson refused to issue an order to Spokane County Auditor Vicky Dalton to accept candidate petitions for the tenth seat next week when candidates will be filing for the nine existing District Court seats as well as other positions on the fall ballot. He heard the case because local judges knew all of the parties and rely on the commissioners for their budget.

Howard Delaney, a Spokane city prosecutor who had asked for the court order because he wanted to run for the position, said he will likely appeal the ruling. If he wins on appeal, a higher court could set up a special filing period.

“I think the voters have the right to make the decision,” Delaney said.

Delaney’s attorney Scott Staab had argued the law passed by the Legislature in 2002 says Spokane County “shall” have 10 district court positions, which means it’s not optional. It was not an unfunded mandate, as county officials had argued, because they had asked the Legislature to raise the number of judicial spots from nine, and the law was a way of saying “you asked for it, you got it,” Staab said.

A similar situation occurred in Yakima County in 1991, he said, when the Legislature gave that county authority for two more district court positions, and county commissioners refused to pay for them. The state Supreme Court eventually ordered the positions to be funded.

But that ruling had a “very narrow focus,” argued Deputy Spokane County Prosecutor Jim Emacio. The Legislature eventually set up a procedure for adding future district court positions that includes action by county commissioners, he said.

The commissioners voted in 2002 not to spend the money for a tenth district court position because it was unsure if the Spokane Valley would incorporate and set up its own municipal court, he said. The new city decided to remain part of the district court system, but Delaney waited four years – until right before candidates file for district court positions – to ask for the court order, Emacio added.

Had Nielson ordered the county to allow candidates to file for a tenth seat, some candidates currently running for the nine existing seats could have opted for the new position. If an appeals court later overrules his decision, those candidates lose their chance to run, Emacio said.

There’s nothing unusual about the timing, Staab countered. People often make the decision to run a week before the filing opens.

“If other people decided they want to (file for this seat), that should be their right,” he said.