19^th District lawmakers win support for third Cowlitz County judge

Caseload demands extra hands, say coastal legislators

March 7, 2008         

OLYMPIA – It’s on to the governor’s desk for a successful plan backed by the three 19^th Legislative District lawmakers to add another district court judge for Cowlitz County.          

State Rep. Dean Takko, D-Longview, said today (March 7) that “the soaring legal workload in Cowlitz County has demonstrated and emphasized the need for adding a judge.

“Our county commissioners have budgeted funds for this position, and all we’re lacking is this approval from the Legislature,” said Takko, who is prime-sponsoring the measure (House Bill 2762).

The bill has won near-unanimous support in both legislative chambers, and now needs only the governor’s signature to become the law of the state.

State Sen. Brian Hatfield, D-Raymond, who led support for the legislation in the Senate, said that the number of Cowlitz County district court judges would be increased from two to three.

“There’s no getting around the fact that the schedules in our Cowlitz County courts are far too crowded,” Hatfield said. “Our population has grown dramatically, especially in the last several years, and yet we haven’t added a judge in more than 40 years.”

State Rep. Brian Blake, D-Aberdeen, noted that there were 31,000 court filings last year in the county.

“Ninety-thousand people live in Cowlitz County and the county opened a new jail last year,” Blake said. “The county needs the additional judge to keep up with the demand.”