PORT ANGELES – A third judge probably will preside over Clallam County Superior Court starting in 2008.
Clallam County Commissioner Mike Doherty, D-Port Angeles, unofficially ended the months-long impasse about the position Monday, joining Commissioner Steve Tharinger, D-Dungeness, to support the new judgeship.
Commissioner Mike Chapman, R-Port Angeles, said he remained unconvinced of the need for the expansion, estimated to cost the county $160,000 a year.
Tharinger and Doherty are expected to back a resolution supporting the third judgeship at their formal meeting today.
The session will start at 10 a.m. in the Clallam County Courthouse, 223 E. Fourth St.
Current Superior Court Judges George Wood and Ken Williams, plus court Commissioner William Knebes, have sought a third judge for nearly two years.
With county commissioners’ support, they lobbied the state Legislature – which approves half the judge’s $131,988 salary – not expecting lawmakers’ assent for two to three more years.
Instead, the proposal won approval in the 2006 legislative session, delighting the judges but surprising the commissioners, who had no clear source of revenue for a third jurist.
