Tri-Cities judge candidate responds to claims she inflated qualifications in voters’ guide
KENNEWICK – A candidate for Franklin County District Court judge is speaking out after being accused of misrepresenting her qualifications.
At a recent Franklin County Commission meeting, a resident spoke up during public comments, saying judge candidate Trinity Orosco had lied about her experience in the voters’ guide that is sent to all eligible voters ahead of the Nov. 8 general election.
Orosco is running against Carlos Villareal for the position.
Orosco was sworn in as a Benton County Judge Pro Tempore earlier this year. A pro tem judge is a judge or an attorney who sits in as a substitute for judges when needed.
They have all the power and authority of a judge when presiding over cases. Orosco said she has been completing the necessary training since then but has yet to be called up to fill in for a judge.
Some concerns have been raised over whether it’s accurate to have included her status as a judge pro tem in the voters’ guide.
“Trinity Orosco, a candidate for District Court judge, made a statement about her position as a pro tem judge. It was written … to portray that she has a great deal of experience a pro tem in the Benton County courts and even alludes to the possibility of 20 years doing so,” Meredith Harker said during the meeting. “She was sworn in as a pro tem judge in April of this year, roughly one month prior to submitting her statement in the voters pamphlet. For me, this comes across as a great deception.”
Harker said at the meeting that she was a concerned voter who wanted to look into the claims after seeing the voters’ guide. Harker’s husband, Dr. Sam Harker is listed as one of Villareal’s endorsements on his website.
In the voter’s pamphlet, Orosco’s statement reads, “My experience serving our community as judge pro tem in Benton County District Court and 20 years combined legal service in City, County, State and Federal cases will lend to a seamless transition to the Franklin County District Court bench.”
Her candidate website includes her resume, which shows she began serving as a judge pro tempore earlier this year and details her legal experience over the past two decades. Orosco has been a defense attorney for 13 years and prior to that worked as a legal intern and paralegal.
Orosco said her intent was not to mislead anyone, and she had multiple people review her statement before submitting, including the District Court judge she is training with as a pro tem.
“I’ve been an attorney for 13 years and legal intern and paralegal for 9 years prior to that,” Orosco told the Herald. “I believe that experience counts, and I’ve never said I’ve been an attorney for 20 years.”
Her voters’ guide profile reflects those statements. Orosco said she stands by her combined legal experience, and that stating she is serving as a judge pro tem is accurate.
“There was never any intent to be misleading or fraudulent, and I don’t believe that I have been,” she said. “If they do believe anything was misleading, that was not my intent and I definitely apologize for that.”
The judge supervising her training as a judge pro tem is Dan Kathren, who she also worked for as a paralegal from 2000-03.
In a response to a similar comment on Orosco’s social media candidate page, Kathren defended her record and experience. The comment questioning her experience came from Laurel Villareal Criddle. It is unclear if she is related to Carlos Villareal.
“Whether or not she has heard a case, Trinity has been and is serving as a judge pro tem in Benton County District Court. This is not dishonest or misleading,” he wrote.
Kathren also reiterated that Orosco’s experience as a paralegal and legal intern were valid and that she was not only hand picked for the pro tem position, but is endorsed by most of the judges who did so.