Washington Courts: Press Release Detail

Supreme Court Justices Elect Debra L. Stephens as Next Chief Justice

Spokane native Justice Debra L. Stephens will serve as the 57th chief justice of the Washington Supreme Court, following a unanimous vote of her peers.

Stephens will be sworn into the position in January and will serve the last year of Mary E. Fairhurst’s term as chief justice.  Fairhurst recently announced that she will retire from the Court at the end of the year to focus on her health.

“It has been my great privilege to serve as a justice of this court since 2003, and particularly as the chief justice for the past three years,” said Fairhurst.  “I am very proud of the work we’ve done as a branch during this time, and I know Justice Stephens will continue this great work and be a true leader for the judicial branch.”

“I am honored to be selected by my colleagues, and look forward to working with them and others throughout the judicial branch to ensure justice for every person in the state of Washington,” Justice Stephens said following the election.  “We will all miss Mary greatly. She has been an amazing and inspirational leader for so many years, and I hope to continue in her tradition.”

Since 1996, the internal vote for the position of chief justice has been held every four years at the regularly scheduled November administrative meeting of the court.  The next full, four-year term election for chief justice will occur in November 2020.

As chief justice, Stephens will become the court’s chief spokesperson, will preside over the court’s public hearings and will co-chair the state’s Board for Judicial Administration, the primary policy-setting group of the state judiciary.

Stephens was appointed to the Washington Supreme Court in January 2008, and subsequently elected to a six-year term in November 2008, then reelected in 2014. 

She previously served as a judge for Division Three of the Court of Appeals, and is the first judge from that court to serve on the Washington Supreme Court, as well as the first woman from Eastern Washington to do so.  Justice Stephens attended Gonzaga University School of Law as a Thomas More Scholar, entering law school when her daughter was just five weeks old.  Stephens’ full biography can be found online at www.courts.wa.gov.

Stephens will be officially sworn in as chief on January 6th in a ceremony at the Temple of Justice in Olympia.