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Yakima County commissioners appoint Julia Davis to fill district court vacancy
Summary
After interviewing two finalists, the Yakima County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously to appoint Julia Davis to fill a vacancy on the District Court bench and adopted a resolution formalizing the appointment.
Yakima County commissioners on Monday, March 10, 2025, appointed Julia Davis to fill a vacancy on the county’s District Court bench, voting unanimously to adopt a resolution formalizing the appointment.
The appointment followed interviews with two finalists, Julia Davis and Susan Silverthorn, and a 15-minute executive session the board held to evaluate candidates under state open-meetings law. The board adopted the appointment resolution (referenced during the meeting as Resolution 62-20-25) and moved on to the next agenda item.
The interview period covered standard topics for judicial appointees: courtroom technology, handling difficult litigants, the role of probation, judicial temperament and judicial philosophy. Julia Davis, a Yakima County prosecutor with roughly 14 years in the county prosecutor’s office, told commissioners that courtroom technology has improved since the COVID-19 pandemic and that upgraded systems make it easier to present exhibits and streamline proceedings. “I think that with technology in the courtroom, we made a lot of great strides during COVID,” Davis said during her interview.
On the role of probation, Davis said probation is “immensely important” to reduce escalation of criminal behavior and to link people to treatment and services. She described probation’s work as part accountability and part service referral: effective probation work, she said, reduces the likelihood that defendants will return with more serious charges.
Davis described her judicial philosophy as moderate and emphasized listening and explaining legal decisions clearly to people who appear in court. She told commissioners that if appointed she would run to retain the seat: “Absolutely,” she said when asked whether she would stand in the next election.
Susan Silverthorn, the other finalist, was also interviewed. She stressed experience in both criminal and civil matters and told commissioners that she values courtroom calm and backup plans for technology failures. Commissioners thanked all five applicants who submitted for the vacancy and said they had performed due diligence on letters of support and references.
After the executive session, the board opened the floor for nomination, moved and seconded the appointment of Julia Davis and then adopted the resolution to make the appointment official. The board’s clerk handled the paperwork on the resolution immediately afterward.
The board did not announce a swearing-in date in the public session.
