LAR 0.2
              COURT ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT


     (a) General Management.  The general management of the
courts shall be vested in the presiding judge under policy
established by the judges at regular and special meetings.

     (b) Meetings.  The judges shall meet regularly on
Thursday of each week during the noon hour.  Special
meetings may be called by the presiding judge as deemed
necessary on timely notice.  A written agenda shall be
provided in advance of all meetings.  A majority of the
judges shall constitute a quorum.

     (c) Presiding Court.  The presiding judge shall serve a
two-year term and shall be selected by election by a
majority of the judges each year at the last regular meeting
of the judges in the month of September.  In the absence of
the presiding judge, presiding duties shall be performed by
the judge assigned to the criminal department or any other
judge designated by the presiding judge.
Amended effective 9/1/02

     (d) Duties of the Presiding Judge.

     (1) Supervise all business of the court and implement
all policies established by the judges;

     (2) Supervise the court commissioners, the court
administrator, court employees not assigned to a particular
department, and employees assigned to a particular
department in the absence of the departmental judge;

     (3) Oversee the assignment of cases and caseflow
management, with the assistance of the court administrator;
     Amended effective 1/18/00

     (4) Select and utilize jurors, with the assistance of
the court administrator;

     (5) Preside at all judges' meetings and call special
meetings as required;

     (6) Act as spokesperson for the court, seeking advice
and counsel from the judges where appropriate;

     (7) Assign cases and other duties to the judges and
court commissioners;

     (8) Hear such ex parte civil and probate matters as are
not assigned to other departments or court commissioners;

     (9) Appoint standing and special committees, with the
approval of the judges.

     (e) Criminal Department. The criminal department shall
consist of one Chief Criminal Judge, the Presiding Judge and
three Criminal Trial Judges. The Chief Criminal Judge shall
be responsible to manage the entire criminal docket from
arraignment through plea setting or trial assignment.  He or
she shall preside at arraignments, decide continuance
issues, hold scheduling hearings  and pretrial (omnibus)
hearings, and shall hear or assign all criminal motions, all
probation violations, violations of conditions of sentence,
and shall assign all criminal trials. The Presiding Judge
will hear criminal pleas and sentencings.  Additional
hearings, pleas and sentencings will be assigned to the
other judges by the Chief Criminal Judge as needed to keep
the docket current. Judges will serve on assignment as
Criminal Trial Judges for a month at a time, pursuant to a
schedule established by the Court Administrator.  The Chief
Criminal Judge shall be selected from among the judges,
other than the Presiding Judge and the Juvenile Judge, to
serve for a one year term.
Amended effective 3/23/00

     (1) Drug Court.  The Presiding Judge or designee will
be responsible to manage the Drug Court program, including
primary responsibility to determine eligibility of
defendants and revocation for violation of program rules.
Amended effective 3/23/00

     (2) Court Commissioners qualified under Article 4,
Section 23 of the Washington Constitution are authorized to
preside over, and consider all matters in adult felony
proceedings specified under RCW 2.24.040, with the
limitation that they may not accept guilty pleas in matters
involving felony charges under RCW 9A.44 (Sexual Offenses)
or 9.68A (Sexual Exploitation of Children).
Effective 6/8/00

     (f) Duties of the Court Administrator.  The court
administrator shall assist the presiding judge in
administrative responsibilities.  Subject to the general
supervision of the presiding judge, the court
administrator's duties shall include:

     (1) Administrative control of all nonjudicial
activities of the court;

     (2) Supervision of all court employees other than court
commissioners, juvenile court employees, and departmental employees;

     (3) Case setting and trial calendar management;

     (4) Juror selection and utilization;

     (5) Preparation and administration of the budget;

     (6) Coordination with the state court administrator and
with the visiting judge program;

     (7) Assisting the presiding judge in dealing with
county government, bar association, news media, and other
public and private groups having a reasonable interest in
the administration of justice;

     (8) Attendance of judges' meetings and preparation of
the agenda for and minutes of those meetings;

     (9) Preparation of such reports and compilation of such
statistics as may be required by the judges or state court administrator;

     (10) Making recommendations to the judges for the
improvement of the administration of the court.