Commission on Judicial Conduct details succession plan, cites 200% rise in case filings

Judge Christian Hedin, chair of the Commission on Judicial Conduct, convened the commission’s business meeting on Feb. 6, 2026. The panel approved prior meeting minutes and spent most of its public session on administrative and staffing matters, including a succession plan for Executive Director Reiko Colner.

Colner told the commission she had submitted a written report and welcomed new appointee Austin Fields, named as an alternate attorney member, and confirmed attorney Emily Hancock had been elevated to full member status. She also announced two new staff hires: attorney Sanon Nagy and staff support Lindsay Early. "I just want to, for the record, welcome Austin Field to the commission," Colner said during her remarks.

Colner said the commission has experienced a 200% increase in case filings in recent years. "We have experienced a 200% increase in case filings for a variety of reasons over the past couple of years," she said, and added that the commission has no sign that the trend is abating. She described training and outreach activities the commission will pursue, including participation in the Association of Judicial Disciplinary Council spring meeting and a Superior Court Judge Association conference in Spokane.

Commissioner Alvarez reported on the executive director succession task force. Alvarez said the committee drafted a recruitment plan and position description and proposed a hire date that would allow at least some overlap with Colner to support knowledge transfer. "The thinking is that it would be October 16," Alvarez said, describing the target hire date and noting the timeline was chosen to align with payroll periods and provide about two and a half months of overlap.

Alvarez also told commissioners the personnel committee had previously set a starting salary for the executive director at $181,800 but recommended raising the bottom of the salary range so the executive director position would start slightly higher than the next-highest paid commission employee. He said the committee did not propose changing the top of the range. Chair Hedin asked if any commissioner objected to approving that adjustment by consensus; there were no objections and Hedin indicated the commission would proceed by consensus.

The meeting included a brief legal-update note: Colner reported that the State Supreme Court had rendered a decision in a matter identified as Wright Tracy Flood and that oral argument took place in a de novo review of a panel decision in Ray David Rezumna; she directed commissioners to the commission website and TVW for more detail on those matters. Colner also listed upcoming meeting logistics: the next regular meeting will be in person at the SkyBridge Hotel (formerly the Crown Plaza), a remote meeting in June, and the commission’s annual education session at the Cedar Brook Lodge in September; she said the Nov. 20 meeting would also be at the Cedar Brook Lodge and would be her final meeting.

Votes at a glance: The commission approved the business-session minutes from Nov. 21, 2025. The motion to approve the minutes was identified by Chair Hedin as made by Commissioner Briggs and seconded by Commissioner Ashkey Scott; Hedin called for those in favor and announced the minutes stood as approved. The commission approved the proposed adjustment to the bottom end of the executive-director salary range by consensus (no roll-call tally recorded in the public session).

There were no public comments submitted in advance of the meeting; Miss Beldoz reported that none had been received. The public portion of the meeting was adjourned; Colner asked commissioners to remain for the resumption of closed deliberations.

What happens next: The succession task force will proceed with recruitment under the timetable discussed; the commission’s schedule shows an in-person meeting at the SkyBridge Hotel and an education session at the Cedar Brook Lodge later in the year.