Courts in Washington

More information on Washington's state courts:
Selection methods Elections Salaries Federal courts

In Washington, there are two federal district courts, a state supreme court, a state court of appeals, and trial courts. These courts serve different purposes, which are outlined in the sections below.

Click a link for information about that court type.

• Federal courts
• State supreme court
• State court of appeals
• Trial courts

The image below depicts the flow of cases through Washington's state court system. Cases typically originate in the trial courts and can be appealed to courts higher up in the system.

The structure of Washington's state court system.

Judicial selection process

See also: Judicial selection in Washington and Washington judicial elections

Selection of state court judges in Washington occurs through nonpartisan elections. Judges wishing to serve multiple terms must run for re-election.

To read more about judicial elections in Washington, click here.

Federal courts

The federal district courts in Washington are the:

• Eastern District of Washington
• Western District of Washington

Appeals from this district goes to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit.

Active judges

Eastern District

Judge	Appointed By	Assumed Office	Bachelors	Law
Thomas Rice	Barack Obama (D)	March 8, 2012 -	Gonzaga University, 1983	Gonzaga University Law, 1983
Stanley Bastian	Barack Obama (D)	May 1, 2014 -	University of Oregon, 1980	University of Washington School of Law, 1983
Mary Dimke	Joe Biden (D)	December 21, 2021 -	Pepperdine University, 1999	Vanderbilt Law School, 2002
Rebecca Pennell	Joe Biden (D)	December 9, 2024 -	University of Washington	Stanford University

The list below displays the number of active judges by the party of the appointing president. It does not reflect how a judge may rule on specific cases or their own political preferences.

• Democrat appointed: 4
• Republican appointed: 0

Western District

Judge	Appointed By	Assumed Office	Bachelors	Law
David G. Estudillo	Joe Biden (D)	October 7, 2021 -	University of Washington	University of Washington
Tana Lin	Joe Biden (D)	November 23, 2021 -	Cornell University, 1988	New York University School of Law, 1991
Lauren King	Joe Biden (D)	December 7, 2021 -	University of Washington, 2004	University of Virginia School of Law, 2008
John Chun	Joe Biden (D)	March 30, 2022 -	Columbia University, 1991	Cornell Law School, 1994
Jamal Whitehead	Joe Biden (D)	March 14, 2023 -	University of Washington, 2004	Seattle University School of Law, 2007
Kymberly Evanson	Joe Biden (D)	July 18, 2023 -	Seattle University, 1999	Georgetown University Law Center, 2007
Tiffany Cartwright	Joe Biden (D)	July 18, 2023 -	Stanford University, 2007	Stanford Law School, 2010

The list below displays the number of active judges by the party of the appointing president. It does not reflect how a judge may rule on specific cases or their own political preferences.

• Democrat appointed: 7
• Republican appointed: 0

Judicial selection

Judges who sit on the federal district courts are nominated by the president of the United States and confirmed by the United States Senate. These judges serve life terms. To read more about the judges on these courts, click here.

Bankruptcy courts

There are two federal bankruptcy courts in Washington. These courts have subject-matter jurisdiction over bankruptcy cases. The federal bankruptcy courts in Washington are:

• Eastern District of Washington Bankruptcy Court
• Western District of Washington Bankruptcy Court

State supreme court

See also: Washington Supreme Court

Founded in 1889, the Washington Supreme Court is the state's court of last resort and has nine judgeships. The current chief of the court is Debra Stephens. In 2018, the court decided 1,269 cases.

As of January 2025, four judges on the court were elected in nonpartisan elections and five were appointed by a Democratic governor.

The following judges sit on the court:

Office	Name	Party	Date assumed office
Washington State Supreme Court Position 1	Mary Yu	Nonpartisan	May 20, 2014
Washington State Supreme Court Position 2	Sal Mungia	Nonpartisan	January 13, 2025
Washington State Supreme Court Position 3	Raquel Montoya-Lewis	Nonpartisan	January 6, 2020
Washington State Supreme Court Position 4	Charles W. Johnson	Nonpartisan	January 14, 1991
Washington State Supreme Court Position 5	Barbara A. Madsen	Nonpartisan	January 11, 1993
Washington State Supreme Court Position 6	G. Helen Whitener	Nonpartisan	April 24, 2020
Washington State Supreme Court Position 7	Debra Stephens	Nonpartisan	January 1, 2008
Washington State Supreme Court Position 8	Steven Gonzalez	Nonpartisan	January 1, 2012
Washington State Supreme Court Position 9	Sheryl Gordon McCloud	Nonpartisan	January 1, 2013

State court of appeals

See also: Washington Court of Appeals

The Washington Court of Appeals is the intermediate appellate court for the state of Washington. The court is a non-discretionary appellate court. This means that it must accept, review and issue a written decision for all appeals filed with it, unlike the Washington State Supreme Court, which can reject an appeal.

The following judges sit on the court:

Judge	Tenure	Appointed By
Bill Bowman	January 24, 2020 - Present	Jay Inslee
Lori Smith	August 1, 2018 - Present	Jay Inslee
David S. Mann	August 16, 2016 - Present	Jay Inslee
Janet Chung	April 25, 2022 - Present	Jay Inslee
Ian Birk	May 9, 2022 - Present	Jay Inslee
J. Michael Diaz	September 1, 2022 - Present	Jay Inslee
Leonard Feldman	March 15, 2023 - Present	Jay Inslee
Megan Murphy	January 13, 2025 - Present	Jay Inslee
Robert Lawrence-Berrey	March 1, 2014 - Present	Jay Inslee
Meng Li Che	December 1, 2022 - Present	Jay Inslee
Bradley A. Maxa	August 1, 2013 - Present	Jay Inslee
Linda C.J. Lee	January 6, 2014 - Present	Jay Inslee
Rebecca Glasgow	January 14, 2019 - Present	Election
Erik D. Price	2021 - Present	Jay Inslee
Stephen Dwyer	November 30, 2005 - Present	Election
Linda Coburn	January 11, 2021 - Present	Election
Cecily Hazelrigg-Hernandez	January 14, 2019 - Present	Election
Anne Cruser	March 8, 2019 - Present	Jay Inslee
Bernard Veljacic	January 1, 2021 - Present	Jay Inslee
Tracy Arlene Staab	January 11, 2021 - Present	Election
John Cooney	August 1, 2023 - Present	Jay Inslee
George Fearing	June 24, 2013 - Present	Jay Inslee

Trial courts

Superior courts

See also: Washington Superior Courts

The Washington Superior Courts are the 32 courts covering the 39 counties.

District courts

See also: Washington District Courts

The District Courts are trial courts in Washington that have limited jurisdiction over criminal and civil cases. This includes criminal misdemeanors, preliminary hearings for felony cases, infractions, and civil claims under $75,000.

Municipal courts

See also: Washington Municipal Courts

The Municipal Courts are courts in the state of Washington that have jurisdiction over the violations of municipal and city ordinances.

In other states

Click the map below to explore the court structure in other states.

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See also

• Judicial selection in Washington
• Washington judicial elections

External links

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• Washington Supreme Court

Footnotes

Washington courts

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Federal courts:

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: Eastern District of Washington, Western District of Washington • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: Eastern District of Washington, Western District of Washington

State courts:

Washington Supreme Court • Washington Court of Appeals • Washington Superior Court • Washington District Courts • Washington Municipal Courts

State resources:

Courts in Washington • Washington judicial elections • Judicial selection in Washington