Aloha from King County Superior Court.
As I previously reported, Judge Judy Ramseyer and Judge Cathy Shaffer retired from the King County Superior Court bench at the end of June.
William Dixon has been appointed by Governor Inslee to succeed Judge Ramseyer. At the time of writing, Judge Dixon’s start date has not been established, but we anticipate he will be beginning in July.
Judge Dixon is an experienced civil litigator, beginning his legal career in 1996. Since 2007, he has owned and managed Dixon Law Firm, PLLC, a plaintiff’s personal injury firm in Seattle. Judge Dixon has prosecuted clients’ claims of medical malpractice, employment discrimination, products liability, and motor vehicle injury. He is also very active in the community. Judge Dixon has served in various leadership roles with the Washington State Bar Association, the King County Bar Association, and the Washington State Association for Justice. In 2019, the Washington State Association for Justice honored Dixon with the Carl Maxey Award for his sustained commitment to diversity in the legal profession. He has also volunteered as a youth football coach. Welcome Judge Dixon, we are excited to have you join the King County Superior Court bench!
At the time of writing, Governor Inslee has not appointed a successor to Judge Shaffer. This will be reported on in a future column.
After much anticipation and planning, the City of Seattle reopened City Hall Park on June 13. A huge Mahalo to Mayor Bruce Harrell (and his team) for his commitment to public safety, investment in resources for the park, and efforts to make City Hall Park a welcoming and safe place for everyone.
Hundreds of people come to the King County Courthouse, as well as courthouses all over the country, every day seeking justice. These people are facing some of the biggest challenges of their lives in criminal cases, civil lawsuits, child welfare matters, domestic violence cases, family law matters, and eviction cases. The Courthouse provides a safe space for people to resolve disputes peacefully and respectfully under the rule of law.
People from communities across King County come to the Courthouse every day, for all sorts of reasons; for some it is not a choice, they are compelled to show up. Their safety, and the safety of all who come to and work at the Courthouse is a high priority for the Court. City Hall Park is the gateway to the Courthouse, where all of these people come seeking justice. Access to justice requires all people be safe in and around City Hall Park, including courthouse employees, jurors, litigants, witnesses, lawyers, and judicial officers.
The Fourth Avenue entrance to the King County Courthouse closed on June 15, and the Third Avenue entrance reopened. This is the first time in more than three years that the Third Avenue entrance is being used for consistent general access by the public.
As this change moves forward, King County is partnering with law enforcement, neighborhood and community organizations, and other governments to foster a safer, more welcoming environment in and around all county facilities.
The Court will be listening to the experiences of courthouse users, monitoring safety and security, and continuing to advocate for robust safety and security measures which respond to the needs of all King County Courthouse users. Access to justice unequivocally demands that the people of King County be able to get to and from their courthouse without incident.
During the shift to Third Avenue access, King County Sheriff’s deputies will be reposted at the Third Avenue entrance and will continue their regular foot and bicycle patrols of the downtown civic campus area, and Facilities Management Division (FMD) Security Officers will continue their exterior perimeter patrols of the Courthouse.
Temporary signage will be installed to provide wayfinding directions to users of the building. Employees, jurors, and other visitors to the Courthouse should allow additional time to gain access and clear security screening on Third Avenue during this transition. Necessary repairs to the Fourth Avenue entrance will begin soon and are expected to be completed at the start of August. The Fourth Avenue entrance may open as a secondary entrance if staffing and resources allow.
The King County Bar Association Bench-Bar Conference took a short hiatus last year. This signature event will return November 10, 2023, IN-PERSON at the Washington State Convention Center. More details and registration information will be forthcoming as we move forward. This will be a great opportunity for attorneys and judicial officers to meet, network, and re-
connect in this Post-Covid era. We plan to have interesting programming led by presenters from the bench and bar. And a special shout out to our newer attorneys . . . we look forward to seeing all of you in attendance. It will be a great opportunity for you to partake in interesting programming, as well as interact with senior attorneys and many judicial officers.
Finally, for the record, the Mariners are horribly under performing and making my gray hair even grayer.1 As the weather warms up, I hope the Mariners will heat up too and give us hope and something to root for. GO M’s ... please!!!
1 Way too many strikeouts. Through 70 games: 682. – Ed.
