PORT ANGELES — Clallam County Superior Court Judge Brooke Taylor will retire at the end of 2013, he announced Tuesday.
“Having just enjoyed my 70th birthday, I have decided that now is a good time to retire,” Taylor said in a prepared statement.
“I am in excellent health. That has nothing to do with it,” he said.
Taylor, who was elected unopposed to a second term in November, said the alternative was to retire at the end of 2012.
But he said he did not want to leave the three-judge court with two inexperienced judges and felt the spotlight should be on Judge Ken Williams, who retired at the end of 2012, he said in an interview.
Former Forks-area District Court 2 Judge Erik Rohrer was elected last year to replace Williams.
Judge George L. Wood also serves as a Superior Court judge.
“Fundamentally, I was just not ready to stop working,” Taylor said of his decision to continue sitting on the bench for one more year.
“When you get there, you’ll know.”
Taylor was first elected to a one-year term in 2007.
Taylor was unopposed in the 2008 general election after getting the majority of votes in the primary over opponents Brent Basden, Craig Miller and Curtis Johnson.
“It seems like I just got here,” Taylor said.
All Superior Court judges are elected in presidential election years.
Taylor said his main accomplishment was helping to get the backlog of Superior Court cases under control — “getting caught up and staying on top of our workload.”
He said in the prepared statement that he also wanted to “establish beyond question” the need for a third Superior Court judge for Clallam County, a goal he said had been accomplished.
“I am grateful to the citizens of Clallam County for having given me the honor of serving in this position,” he said in his statement.
His retirement leaves three years on his term.
By the end of this year, Gov. Jay Inslee will appoint a qualified lawyer to fill the position until the November 2014 general election, at which time an election will be held to choose someone to fill out the final two years of his term.
Taylor said he intends to see through the aggravated murder trial of Darold Stenson, who has a hearing today on Stenson’s motion to dismiss the case, among other motions that Taylor will consider.
“I am buried behind piles of Stenson motions,” Taylor said Tuesday.
Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5060, or at paul.gottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
