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Committee hears request to add fifth Skagit County superior court judge
Summary
A hearing on House Bill 1144 covered testimony from the Administrative Office of the Courts, Skagit County judges and county leaders seeking to make a temporary, county-funded judicial position permanent to address caseload pressures and changing courtroom demands.
Representative Jamila Taylor, chair of the Civil Rights & Judiciary Committee, opened the Jan. 15 hearing on House Bill 1144, which would increase the number of superior court judges in Skagit County from four to five.
The measure matters because, supporters said, changes in caseload composition and recent temporary funding that expires this year have left the county short of judicial capacity to both process routine hearings and hold timely trials.
House Bill 1144 would make permanent a judicial position that local officials temporarily funded after the COVID-19 backlog. Yolanda Baker, staff to the committee, told members that “the number of superior court judges in each county is set by statute” and that the legislature relies on an annual workload analysis by the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) to determine…
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