Judge Joel M. Penoyar

DIVISION II, POSITION 1

October 6, 2005–February 28, 2014

Appointed by Governor Gregoire

Judge Joel Penoyar spent his youth in Detroit. He attended the University of Oregon, and graduated with his J.D. in 1974. Judge Penoyar was appointed as a part time Pacific and Wahkiakum Counties District Court judge and Superior Court commissioner in 1975. From 1975 to 1988, Judge Penoyar was an attorney handling a general practice and serving as City Attorney for South Bend, Washington. He ran in a contested election for Superior Court in 1988 and served as the Superior Court Judge for Pacific and Wahkiakum Counties until 2005, when he was appointed to the Court of Appeals, Division Two by Governor Christine Gregoire. He was elected in 2006 to serve a six year term. That same year he also received the Washington State Bar Association Community Service Award.

As a lawyer, Judge Penoyar served on the Board of Bar Examiners, the Superior Court Judges Association, the Rural Courts Committee, Courts and Community Committee, Project 2001, Ethics Committee, and the Ethics Advisory Committee. He is a former member of the Commission on Judicial Conduct, a board that handles discipline for judges statewide.

Judge Penoyar actively served in his community with the Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Historical Society, the Lions Club, and numerous other local organizations. He also acted as a volunteer firefighter and first responder, and he taught domestic violence classes and judicial ethics classes.

Judge Penoyar retired from the Court of Appeals in February 2014. He currently lives in South Bend.