Spokane County Superior Court could grow pending state approval, just two years after last judge addition

Momentum for an additional judge to join the Spokane County Superior Court appears to be building in the new year.

Included in the last few resolutions passed by the Spokane County Commission at the end of December was a request to state lawmakers to approve an additional judge position for the county’s highest court. Asking for “the opportunity for Spokane County to expand its Superior Court bench” is in the best interest of the county, the commissioners stated in their motion.

The Legislature, set to convene in March for a 60-day session, holds the authority to create additional judicial positions. The last approved additions to the court came nearly 30 years ago; in 1997, state lawmakers approved a 12th and 13th judge and agreed to pay half the salaries of those new positions.

The county’s 12th judge was added by the county commission shortly after, but it would take years of lobbying by the Superior Court to several iterations of the county commission before the board moved to add the 13th.

In 2023, the county commission approved and funded the position starting January 2024, decades after lawmakers first moved to grow the Superior Court, and after the county had seen vast growth in its population and case loads.

The need to grow the court further, however, remains, according to the Spokane County Bar Association and a statewide analysis.

Last July, the association requested the addition of three judges to the Superior Court based on a 2020 statewide analysis on the needs for each Washington county superior court system that estimated Spokane County should have around 24 judicial officers, Superior Court commissioners included. Spokane County Superior Court currently has 13 judges and 8 commissioners.

The commission responded last year that doing so would not be possible under the tight budgeting cycle they faced, in which the commissioners needed to close a roughly $20 million deficit.

“Though state funds pay half of the salaries of superior court judges, all costs of operating superior court are borne by county,” the September response letter reads.

Adding to the county’s financial concerns were recent state-level decisions by lawmakers and the Washington State Supreme Court that are increasing the financial obligations of the county around public safety, like reduced caseloads for public defenders that will necessitate adding more over the coming years, or state lawmakers cutting funding for truancy work, according to the letter.

The commissioners pointed to other investments in the regional public safety system over the last few budgeting cycles in stressing their commitment to the bar association of “mutual priorities of ensuring the availability of Superior Court Judges, maintaining manageable and efficient trial dockets, and safeguarding public safety.”

One of those investments nodded to in the letter is the purchase of the Monroe Court building. Lack of space within the Spokane County Courthouse has long been a hurdle in discussion of expanding the Superior Court bench, and the 71,500 square-foot, mixed-use office space could be used as a landing spot if state lawmakers move to add another judge this year.

“As additional space and funding become available the Board will work collaboratively with your organization, the Superior Court Judges, and other community partners to consider strategies for establishing additional Superior Court Judgeships,” the commissioners’ letter states.