S-3235.1 _______________________________________________
SENATE BILL 6292
_______________________________________________
State of Washington 57th Legislature 2002 Regular Session
By Senators Kline and Johnson
Read first time 01/14/2002. Referred to Committee on Judiciary.
AN ACT Relating to authorizing lay judicial officers; and amending RCW 3.34.060 and 3.50.040.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
Sec. 1. RCW 3.34.060 and 1991 c 361 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
To be eligible to file a declaration of candidacy for and to serve as a district court judge, a person must:
(1) Be a registered voter of the district court district and electoral district, if any; and
(2) Be either:
(a) A lawyer admitted to practice law in the state of Washington; or
(b) ((A person who
has been elected and has served as a justice of the peace, district judge,
municipal judge, or police judge in Washington; or
(c))) In those districts having a population of less
than five thousand persons, a person who has taken and passed by January 1,
2003, the qualifying examination for ((the office of district judge))
a lay candidate for judicial officer as ((shall be)) provided by
rule of the supreme court.
Sec. 2. RCW 3.50.040 and 1984 c 258 s 106 are each amended to read as follows:
Within thirty days after the effective date of the ordinance creating the municipal court, the mayor of each city or town shall appoint a municipal judge or judges of the municipal court for a term of four years. The terms of judges serving on July 1, 1984, and municipal judges who are appointed to terms commencing before January 1, 1986, shall expire January 1, 1986. The terms of their successors shall commence on January 1, 1986, and on January 1 of each fourth year thereafter, pursuant to appointment or election as provided in this chapter. Appointments shall be made on or before December 1 of the year next preceding the year in which the terms commence.
The legislative authority of a city or town that has the general power of confirmation over mayoral appointments shall have the power to confirm the appointment of a municipal judge.
A person
appointed as a full-time or part-time municipal judge shall be a citizen of the
United States of America and of the state of Washington; and an attorney
admitted to practice law before the courts of record of the state of
Washington: PROVIDED, That in a municipality having a population less than
five thousand persons, a person ((other than an attorney)) who has
taken and passed by January 1, 2003, the qualifying examination for a lay
candidate for judicial officer as provided by rule of the supreme court may
be the judge. Any city or town shall have authority to appoint a district
judge as its municipal judge when the municipal judge is not required to serve
full time. In the event of the appointment of a district judge, the city or
town shall pay a pro rata share of the salary.
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