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Clerk publishes short timeline; commissioners approve letter to bar and poll process for district court judge vacancy
Summary
With Judge Engel retiring March 7, the Yakima County clerk circulated a timeline for appointing a replacement. Commissioners approved sending notices to the local bar and Washington State Bar and asked that the bar poll be returned for board review before interviews are scheduled.
Julie Lawrence, Yakima County clerk, presented a condensed timeline on Jan. 27 for filling the district court judge vacancy created by Judge Engel’s retirement effective March 7.
The clerk proposed soliciting applications from the Yakima County Bar and the Washington State Bar, with a Feb. 7 application deadline and a Feb. 20 bar poll of applicants. The board would decide which applicants to interview on Feb. 20, conduct interviews in March and select a candidate at the board’s March 11 agenda meeting.
The nut graf: commissioners approved sending letters to the Yakima County Bar Association and to Washington State Bar members announcing the vacancy and application deadline, and asked that the bar poll use the same questionnaire used in prior appointments. County counsel and commissioners discussed widening outreach (for example, ensuring the statewide bar notice reaches attorneys who practice in Yakima but are not local-bar members) and inviting local law-enforcement chiefs and other justice-system stakeholders to submit comments before the board’s interview round.
Commissioners agreed to keep the full board participating in the interviews if possible; they also asked clerk staff to be mindful of scheduling during the state legislative session and to coordinate dates that allow all three commissioners to attend. The board moved and seconded approval of the letter to the bar; the motion carried by voice vote.
