FINAL BILL REPORT

                      HB 2082

PARTIAL VETO

                                 C 361 L 91

Brief Description:  Changing provisions relating to district court judges.

By Representative Appelwick.

House Committee on Judiciary

Senate Committee on Law & Justice

Background:  Under current law, a person who is not a Washington State Bar Association member may qualify to be a candidate for district court judge by having been elected previously or, if the position is in a court district with less than 10,000 people, by passing a qualifying exam.

Under rules adopted by the state's Supreme Court, decisions by district court judges who are not members of the state bar may be ignored on appeal to superior court and the case will be retried anew.

If a person wins election to a district court position, the statute provides that he or she is granted sick leave "in the same manner as other county employees."  This language has been used as the basis for claiming application of accrued sick leave toward a judge's retirement benefits.

Summary:  The bill drops the population of a district court district in which a lay judge can qualify by examination from 10,000 to 5,000.  Lay district court judges in office on the effective date of the act are not affected by this change.

A county must grant sick leave to a district court judge if the judge becomes ill or injured.  The possible implication that a judge's sick leave may be accumulated for retirement benefit calculations is removed.

Votes on Final Passage:

House 97    0

Senate   39    0

Effective:     July 28, 1991

Partial Veto Summary:  The governor's partial veto removes the portion of the bill that deals with the granting of sick leave.