General Rule 29
                PRESIDING JUDGE IN SUPERIOR COURT DISTRICT AND
                      LIMITED JURISDICTION COURT DISTRICT


     (a) Election, Term, Vacancies, Removal and Selection Criteria - Multiple
Judge Courts.

     (1) Election. Each superior court district and each limited jurisdiction
court district (including municipalities operating municipal courts) having
more than one judge shall establish a procedure, by local court rule, for
election, by the judges of the district, of a Presiding Judge, who shall
supervise the judicial business of the district. In the same manner, the judges
shall elect an Assistant Presiding Judge of the district who shall serve as
Acting Presiding Judge during the absence or upon the request of the Presiding
Judge and who shall perform such further duties as the Presiding Judge, the
Executive Committee, if any, or the majority of the judges shall direct.  If
the judges of a district fail or refuse to elect a Presiding Judge, the Supreme
Court shall appoint the Presiding Judge and Assistant Presiding Judge.

     (2) Term. The Presiding Judge shall be elected for a term of not less than
two years, subject to reelection. The term of the Presiding Judge shall
commence on January 1 of the year in which the Presiding Judge's term begins.

     (3) Vacancies. Interim vacancies of the office of Presiding Judge or
Acting Presiding Judge shall be filled as provided in the local court rule in (a)(1).

     (4) Removal. The Presiding Judge may be removed by a majority vote of the
judges of the district unless otherwise provided by local court rule.

     (5) Selection Criteria. Selection of a Presiding Judge should be based on
the judge's 1) management and administrative ability, 2) interest in serving in
the position, 3) experience and familiarity with a variety of trial court
assignments, and 4) ability to motivate and educate other judicial officers and
court personnel.  A Presiding Judge must have at least four years of experience
as a judge, unless this requirement is waived by a majority vote of the judges
of the court.


Commentary

It is the view of the committee that the selection and duties of a presiding
judge should be enumerated in a court rule rather than in a statute.  It is
also our view that one rule should apply to all levels of court and include
single judge courts. Therefore, the rule should be a GR (General Rule).  The
proposed rule addresses the process of selection/removal of a presiding judge
and an executive committee.  It was the intent of the committee to provide some
flexibility to local courts wherein they could establish, by local rule, a
removal process.  Additionally, by delineating the selection criteria for the
presiding judge, the committee intends that a rotational system of selecting a
presiding judge is not advisable.


     (b) Selection and Term - Single Judge Courts.  In court districts or
municipalities having only one judge, that judge shall serve as the Presiding
Judge for the judge's term of office.

     (c) Notification of Chief Justice. The Presiding Judge so elected shall
send notice of the election of the Presiding Judge and Assistant Presiding
Judge to the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court within 30 days of election.

     (d) Caseload Adjustment. To the extent possible, the judicial caseload
should be adjusted to provide the Presiding Judge with sufficient time and
resources to devote to the management and administrative duties of the office.


Commentary

Whether caseload adjustments need to be made depends on the size and workload
of the court.  A recognition of the additional duties of the Presiding Judge by
some workload adjustment should be made by larger courts.  For example, the
Presiding Judge could be assigned a smaller share of civil cases or a block of
time every week could be set aside with no cases scheduled so the Presiding
Judge could attend to administrative matters.


     (e)  General Responsibilities. The Presiding Judge is responsible for
leading the management and administration of the court's business, recommending
policies and procedures that improve the court's effectiveness, and allocating
resources in a way that maximizes the court's ability to resolve disputes
fairly and expeditiously.

     (f)  Duties and Authority. The judicial and administrative duties set
forth in this rule cannot be delegated to persons in either the legislative or
executive branches of government.  A Presiding Judge may delegate the
performance of ministerial duties to court employees; however, it is still the
Presiding Judge's responsibility to ensure they are performed in accordance
with this rule.  In addition to exercising general administrative supervision
over the court, except those duties assigned to clerks of the superior court
pursuant to law, the Presiding Judge shall:

     (1)  Supervise the business of the judicial district and judicial officers
in such manner as to ensure the expeditious and efficient processing of all
cases and equitable distribution of the workload among judicial officers;

     (2)  Assign judicial officers to hear cases pursuant to statute or rule.
The court may establish general policies governing the assignment of judges;

     (3)  Coordinate judicial officers' vacations, attendance at education
programs, and similar matters;

     (4)  Develop and coordinate statistical and management information;

     (5)  Supervise the daily operation of the court including:

     (a)  All personnel assigned to perform court functions; and

     (b)  All personnel employed under the judicial branch of government, including
but not limited to working conditions, hiring, discipline, and termination
decisions except wages, or benefits directly related to wages; and

     (c) The court administrator, or equivalent employee, who shall report
directly to the Presiding Judge.


Commentary

The trial courts must maintain control of the working conditions for their
employees.  For some courts this includes control over some wage-related
benefits such as vacation time.  While the executive branch maintains control
of wage issues, the courts must assert their control in all other areas of
employee relations.

With respect to the function of the court clerk, generally the courts of
limited jurisdiction have direct responsibility for the administration of their
clerk's office as well as the supervision of the court clerks who work in the
courtroom.  In the superior courts, the clerk's office may be under the
direction of a separate elected official or someone appointed by the local
judges or local legislative or executive authority.  In those cases where the
superior court is not responsible for the management of the clerk's office, the
presiding judge should communicate to the county clerk any concerns regarding
the performance of statutory court duties by county clerk personnel.

A model job description, including qualification and experience criteria, for
the court administrator position shall be established by the Board for Judicial
Administration.  A model job description that generally describes the
knowledge, skills, and abilities of a court administrator would provide
guidance to Presiding Judges in modifying current job duties/responsibilities
or for courts initially hiring a court administrator or replacing a court administrator.


     (6)  Supervise the court's accounts and auditing the procurement and
disbursement of appropriations and preparation of the judicial district's
annual budget request;

     (7)  Appoint standing and special committees of judicial officers
necessary for the proper performance of the duties of the judicial district;

     (8)  Promulgate local rules as a majority of the judges may approve or as
the Supreme Court shall direct;

     (9)  Supervise the preparation and filing of reports required by statute
and court rule;

    (10) Act as the official spokesperson for the court in all matters with
the executive or legislative branches of state and local government and the
community unless the Presiding Judge shall designate another judge to serve in
this capacity;


Commentary

This provision recognizes the Presiding Judge as the official spokesperson for
the court.  It is not the intent of this provision to preclude other judges
from speaking to community groups or executive or legislative branches of state
or local government.


     (11) Preside at meetings of the judicial officers of the district;

     (12) Determine the qualifications of and establish a training program for
pro tem judges and pro tem court commissioners; and

     (13) Perform other duties as may be assigned by statute or court rule.


Commentary

The proposed rule also addresses the duties and general responsibilities of the
presiding judge.  The language in subsection (d), (e), (f) and (g) was intended
to be broad in order that the presiding judge may carry out his/her
responsibilities.  There has been some comment that individual courts should
have the ability to change the "duties and general responsibilities"
subsections by local rule.  While our committee has not had an opportunity to
discuss this fully, this approach has a number of difficulties:

    . It would create many "Presiding Judge Rules" all of which are different.
    . It could subject some municipal and district court judges to pressure from
their executive and/or legislative authority to relinquish authority over areas
such as budget and personnel.

    . It would impede the ability of the BJA through AOC to offer consistent
training to incoming presiding judges.

The Unified Family Court subgroup of the Domestic Relations Committee suggested
the presiding judge is given specific authority to appoint judges to the family
court for long periods of time.  Again the committee has not addressed the
proposal; however, subsections (e) and (f) do give the presiding judge broad
powers to manage the judicial resources of the court, including the assignment
of judges to various departments.


     (g)  Executive Committee.  The judges of a court may elect an executive
committee consisting of other judicial officers in the court to advise the
Presiding Judge.  By local rule, the judges may provide that any or all of the
responsibilities of the Presiding Judge be shared with the Executive Committee
and may establish additional functions and responsibilities of the Executive Committee.


Commentary

Subsection (g) provides an option for an executive committee if the presiding
judge and/or other members of the bench want an executive committee.

     (h)  Oversight of judicial officers. It shall be the duty of the Presiding
Judge to supervise judicial officers to the extent necessary to ensure the
timely and efficient processing of cases. The Presiding Judge shall have the
authority to address a judicial officer's failure to perform judicial duties
and to propose remedial action.  If remedial action is not successful, the
Presiding Judge shall notify the Commission on Judicial Conduct of a judge's
substantial failure to perform judicial duties, which includes habitual neglect
of duty or persistent refusal to carry out assignments or directives made by
the Presiding Judge, as authorized by this rule.

     (i) Multiple Court Districts.  In counties that have multiple court
districts, the judges may, by majority vote of each court, elect to conduct the
judicial business collectively under the provisions of this rule.

     (j) Multiple Court Level Agreement. The judges of the superior, district,
and municipal courts or any combination thereof in a superior court judicial
district may, by majority vote of each court, elect to conduct the judicial
business collectively under the provisions of this rule.

     (k) Employment Contracts. A part-time judicial officer may contract with a
municipal or county authority for salary and benefits.  The employment contract
shall not contain provisions which conflict with this rule, the Code of
Judicial Conduct or statutory judicial authority, or which would create an
impropriety or the appearance of impropriety concerning the judge's activities.
The employment contract should acknowledge the court is a part of an
independent branch of government and that the judicial officer or court
employees are bound to act in accordance with the provisions of the Code of
Judicial Conduct and Washington State Court rules.


[Adopted effective April 30, 2002; amended effective May 5, 2009.]