Courts in Washington

More information on Washington's state courts:

Selection methods
Elections
Salaries
Federal courts

In Washington, there are two federal district courts, a state supreme court, a state court of appeals, and trial courts. These courts serve different purposes, which are outlined in the sections below.

Click a link for information about that court type.

* Federal courts
* State supreme court
* State court of appeals
* Trial courts

The image below depicts the flow of cases through Washington's state court system. Cases typically originate in the trial courts and can be appealed to courts higher up in the system.

The structure of Washington's state court system.

## Contents

* 1 Judicial selection process
* 2 Federal courts
* 2.1 Active judges
* 2.1.1 Eastern District
* 2.1.2 Western District
* 2.2 Judicial selection
* 2.3 Bankruptcy courts
* 3 State supreme court
* 4 State court of appeals
* 5 Trial courts
* 5.1 Superior courts
* 5.2 District courts
* 5.3 Municipal courts
* 6 In other states
* 7 See also
* 8 External links
* 9 Footnotes

## Judicial selection process[edit]

See also: Judicial selection in Washington and Washington judicial elections

Selection of state court judges in Washington occurs through nonpartisan elections. Judges wishing to serve multiple terms must run for re-election.[1]

To read more about judicial elections in Washington, click here.

## Federal courts[edit]

The federal district courts in Washington are the:

* Eastern District of Washington
* Western District of Washington

Appeals from this district goes to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit.

### Active judges[edit]

#### Eastern District[edit]

Judge | Appointed By | Assumed Office | Bachelors | Law

|
|
|
|

Thomas Rice

Barack Obama (D)

|  March 8, 2012 -  |

Gonzaga University, 1983

Gonzaga University Law, 1983

Stanley Bastian

Barack Obama (D)

|  May 1, 2014 -  |

University of Oregon, 1980

University of Washington School of Law, 1983

Mary Dimke

Joe Biden (D)

|  December 21, 2021 -  |

Pepperdine University, 1999

Vanderbilt Law School, 2002

Rebecca Pennell

Joe Biden (D)

|  December 9, 2024 -  |

University of Washington

Stanford University

The list below displays the number of active judges by the party of the appointing president. It does not reflect how a judge may rule on specific cases or their own political preferences.

* Democratic appointed: 4
* Republican appointed: 0

#### Western District[edit]

Judge | Appointed By | Assumed Office | Bachelors | Law

|
|
|
|

David G. Estudillo

Joe Biden (D)

|  October 7, 2021 -  |

University of Washington

University of Washington

Tana Lin

Joe Biden (D)

|  November 23, 2021 -  |

Cornell University, 1988

New York University School of Law, 1991

Lauren King

Joe Biden (D)

|  December 7, 2021 -  |

University of Washington, 2004

University of Virginia School of Law, 2008

John Chun

Joe Biden (D)

|  March 30, 2022 -  |

Columbia University, 1991

Cornell Law School, 1994

Jamal Whitehead

Joe Biden (D)

|  March 14, 2023 -  |

University of Washington, 2004

Seattle University School of Law, 2007

Kymberly Evanson

Joe Biden (D)

|  July 18, 2023 -  |

Seattle University, 1999

Georgetown University Law Center, 2007

Tiffany Cartwright

Joe Biden (D)

|  July 18, 2023 -  |

Stanford University, 2007

Stanford Law School, 2010

The list below displays the number of active judges by the party of the appointing president. It does not reflect how a judge may rule on specific cases or their own political preferences.

* Democratic appointed: 7
* Republican appointed: 0

### Judicial selection[edit]

Judges who sit on the federal district courts are nominated by the president of the United States and confirmed by the United States Senate. These judges serve life terms. To read more about the judges on these courts, click here.

### Bankruptcy courts[edit]

There are two federal bankruptcy courts in Washington. These courts have subject-matter jurisdiction over bankruptcy cases. The federal bankruptcy courts in Washington are:

* Eastern District of Washington Bankruptcy Court
* Western District of Washington Bankruptcy Court

## State supreme court[edit]

See also: Washington Supreme Court

Founded in 1889, the Washington Supreme Court is the state's court of last resort and has nine judgeships. The current chief of the court is Debra Stephens. In 2018, the court decided 1,269 cases.[2]

As of January 2025, four judges on the court were elected in nonpartisan elections and five were appointed by a Democratic governor.

The following judges sit on the court:

Office | Name | Party | Date assumed office

|
|
|

Washington State Supreme Court Position 1 | Mary Yu | Nonpartisan | May 20, 2014
Washington State Supreme Court Position 2 | Sal Mungia | Nonpartisan | January 13, 2025
Washington State Supreme Court Position 3 | Raquel Montoya-Lewis | Nonpartisan | January 6, 2020
Washington State Supreme Court Position 4 | Charles W. Johnson | Nonpartisan | January 14, 1991
Washington State Supreme Court Position 5 | Barbara A. Madsen | Nonpartisan | January 11, 1993
Washington State Supreme Court Position 6 | G. Helen Whitener | Nonpartisan | April 24, 2020
Washington State Supreme Court Position 7 | Debra Stephens | Nonpartisan | January 1, 2008
Washington State Supreme Court Position 8 | Steven Gonzalez | Nonpartisan | January 1, 2012
Washington State Supreme Court Position 9 | Sheryl Gordon McCloud | Nonpartisan | January 1, 2013

## State court of appeals[edit]

See also: Washington Court of Appeals

The Washington Court of Appeals is the intermediate appellate court for the state of Washington. The court is a non-discretionary appellate court. This means that it must accept, review and issue a written decision for all appeals filed with it, unlike the Washington State Supreme Court, which can reject an appeal.

The following judges sit on the court:

Judge | Tenure | Appointed By

|
|

George Fearing

June 24, 2013 - Present

Jay Inslee

Tracy Arlene Staab

January 11, 2021 - Present

Election

John Cooney

August 1, 2023 - Present

Jay Inslee

Rebecca Glasgow

January 14, 2019 - Present

Election

Erik D. Price

2021 - Present

Jay Inslee

Linda Coburn

January 11, 2021 - Present

Election

Megan Murphy

January 13, 2025 - Present

Jay Inslee

Robert Lawrence-Berrey

March 1, 2014 - Present

Jay Inslee

Bradley A. Maxa

August 1, 2013 - Present

Jay Inslee

Linda C.J. Lee

January 6, 2014 - Present

Jay Inslee

Meng Li Che

December 1, 2022 - Present

Jay Inslee

Cecily Hazelrigg-Hernandez

January 14, 2019 - Present

Election

David S. Mann

August 16, 2016 - Present

Jay Inslee

Janet Chung

April 25, 2022 - Present

Jay Inslee

Ian Birk

May 9, 2022 - Present

Jay Inslee

J. Michael Diaz

September 1, 2022 - Present

Jay Inslee

Lori Smith

August 1, 2018 - Present

Jay Inslee

Bill Bowman

January 24, 2020 - Present

Jay Inslee

Leonard Feldman

March 15, 2023 - Present

Jay Inslee

Anne Cruser

March 8, 2019 - Present

Jay Inslee

Bernard Veljacic

January 1, 2021 - Present

Jay Inslee

## Trial courts[edit]

### Superior courts[edit]

See also: Washington Superior Courts

The Washington Superior Courts are the 32 courts covering the 39 counties.

### District courts[edit]

See also: Washington District Courts

The District Courts are trial courts in Washington that have limited jurisdiction over criminal and civil cases. This includes criminal misdemeanors, preliminary hearings for felony cases, infractions, and civil claims under $75,000.[3]

### Municipal courts[edit]

See also: Washington Municipal Courts

The Municipal Courts are courts in the state of Washington that have jurisdiction over the violations of municipal and city ordinances.[3]

## In other states[edit]

Click the map below to explore the court structure in other states.

Choose your state...AlabamaAlaskaArizonaArkansasCaliforniaColoradoConnecticutDelawareFloridaGeorgiaHawaiiIdahoIllinoisIndianaIowaKansasKentuckyLouisianaMaineMarylandMassachusettsMichiganMinnesotaMississippiMissouriMontanaNebraskaNevadaNew HampshireNew JerseyNew MexicoNew YorkNorth CarolinaNorth DakotaOhioOklahomaOregonPennsylvaniaRhode IslandSouth CarolinaSouth DakotaTennesseeTexasUtahVermontVirginiaWashingtonWashington, D.C.West VirginiaWisconsinWyoming

http://ballotpedia.org/Courts_in_STATE

## See also[edit]

* Judicial selection in Washington
* Washington judicial elections

## External links[edit]

| Suggest a link

|

* Search Google News for this topic
* Washington Supreme Court

## Footnotes[edit]

1. ↑ American Judicature Society, "Methods of Judicial Selection: Washington," archived October 3, 2014
2. ↑ Washington Courts, “Caseloads of the Courts of Washington,” accessed September 19, 2019
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Washington Courts, "A Guide to Washington State Courts," accessed March 24, 2021

Washington courts

* * *

Federal courts:

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: Eastern District of Washington, Western District of Washington • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: Eastern District of Washington, Western District of Washington

State courts:

Washington Supreme Court • Washington Court of Appeals • Washington Superior Court • Washington District Courts • Washington Municipal Courts

State resources:

Courts in Washington • Washington judicial elections • Judicial selection in Washington

v • e

Courts by state

Alabama • Alaska • Arizona • Arkansas • California • Colorado • Connecticut • Delaware • Florida • Georgia • Hawaii • Idaho • Illinois • Indiana • Iowa • Kansas • Kentucky • Louisiana • Maine • Maryland • Massachusetts • Michigan • Minnesota • Mississippi • Missouri • Montana • Nebraska • Nevada • New Hampshire • New Jersey • New Mexico • New York • North Carolina • North Dakota • Ohio • Oklahoma • Oregon • Pennsylvania • Rhode Island • South Carolina • South Dakota • Tennessee • Texas • Utah • Vermont • Virginia • Washington • West Virginia • Wisconsin • Wyoming