PORT ANGELES — Christopher Melly will be sworn in as Clallam County Superior Court judge Tuesday, Jan. 7.
The ceremony will be at 3 p.m. in Courtroom 1 at the Clallam County Courthouse, 223 E. Fourth St., Port Angeles.
Gov. Jay Inslee named Melly, 62, to the Position 3 bench this month. The position pays $151,809 now, with an increase to $156,363 planned Sept. 1.
Melly, former Clallam County hearings examiner, is replacing Judge S. Brooke Taylor, who is retiring at the end of the year. Taylor was elected to the bench in 2007, and his term expires Dec. 31, 2016.
Melly, who was an unsuccessful candidate for the Position 1 Superior Court judge position, has said that he intends to run for election next November for the last two years of Taylor’s term.
Clallam County Auditor Patty Rosand will officiate at the swearing-in ceremony, which is open to the public. A reception will follow.
Melly, who has lived in Port Angeles since 1983, has practiced law in Washington state since 1978.
He served as deputy prosecuting attorney in both King and Clallam counties and also served as a chief deputy prosecuting attorney in Clallam County.
He is now vice-president of the Serenity House board and has previously served on the boards of the North Olympic Library System, the Port Angeles Soccer Club and the Cub Scout Pack at Franklin School.
He also has coached soccer and basketball and served as a Cub Scout den leader.
He served in the Marines in Vietnam, earning the rank of corporal, and earned a bachelor’s degree in history and psychology from the Wayne State University in Detroit, Mich.
He earned his juris doctor degree from Rutgers University School of Law in Camden, N.J.
Melly, who has two sons, has been married for 39 years to Mary Lou Melly, the director of the Educare Center at Peninsula College.
