Resident urges Pierce County Council to investigate missing probate court decree, cites breakdown in public records

A Pierce County resident during community forum on Oct. 28 urged the council to open an independent investigation into an allegedly missing superior court probate decree from 2016, saying the absence of the document threatens public trust in court records.

Heather Benedicte told the council that a superior court commissioner had signed a final decree adjudicating her late mother’s probate in 2016 and that that document was stamped and filed in open court. She said the order has since disappeared from the public record. Benedicte said county executive legal counsel Allen Rose previously told a family member the clerk had returned the order to the commissioner’s office; she reported that Rose, now at the Washington State Auditor’s Office, confirmed that account in a recent conversation.

Benedicte said a hearing on the matter is set before a visiting judge on Dec. 15 and urged the council to "establish an independent investigation" to restore public confidence. She referenced a prior, costly independent investigation that resulted in a severance payment to a former clerk (named in her remarks as Constance White) and asked the council to continue or expand investigatory steps rather than leave the matter solely to court processes.

Her remarks asked the council to consider the broader consequences when a filed and signed court order cannot be found, and requested that citizens contact their councilmembers to press for action. The council did not announce any formal follow‑up at the meeting; the item was raised during community forum and recorded on the public record.