Washington Courts: Judicial News Report Detail

A message from Chief Justice Gerry Alexander: A Pleasant Visit to Waterville

          On July 12 I traveled to Waterville, the county seat of Douglas County, to attend a ceremony at which the restored Douglas County Courthouse was rededicated and the county’s brand new courthouse annex was dedicated.  Douglas County Superior Court Judge John Hotchkiss very kindly invited me to attend the event and asked me to say a few words at the ceremony.

          Although Waterville is quite a distance from Olympia , it was a lovely drive over the mountain passes to that very scenic part of our state.   If you have never been to Waterville , I should tell you that though the county is bounded on the west by the mighty Columbia River, Waterville is located several miles from the river and there is no major body of water within the city limits as far as I could tell.  Waterville sits on a high plateau and, indeed, it is at the highest elevation of any county seat in our state—over 2,500 feet above sea level.  Despite the fact we were at a significant elevation, it was very hot at the ceremony which was held outdoors in front of the lovely old (1905) courthouse that was being rededicated.  Although I was told that it was 107 degrees that day, it wasn’t at all uncomfortable since the humidity is lower than what we experience in Western Washington.

          The ceremony, which lasted about a half hour, was really very nice.  The master of ceremonies was the county prosecutor, Steve Clem, who I knew years ago when I was a fairly new superior court judge and he was just starting out as a legal services attorney in Olympia.  There were two other speakers at the ceremony, State Senator Linda Evans Parlette and my good friend, United States District Court Judge Fred Van Sickle.  Fred formerly served as the prosecuting attorney of Douglas County and as a superior court judge of that county when it was in a joint judicial district with Chelan County.  Fred is very well regarded in Douglas County and it is apparent that he is very proud of his connection with that community.  Chelan County Superior Court Judge Chip Small drove over from Wenatchee for the ceremony as did former Chelan County Superior Court Judge Carol Wardell.

          I must confess that the highlight of the brief ceremony was not the presentations by the three of us who were called upon to speak, but rather a presentation by Lucille “Lucy” Keane, a prominent resident of Douglas County.  Ms. Keane read a poem that she authored entitled, “Ode to Our County Courthouse.”  She captured the spirit of the day beautifully.

          As I experienced that very nice event in Waterville and observed how the more than 100 enthusiastic spectators evidenced pride in their old courthouse and the new annex, I couldn’t help but reflect on what an important symbol the county courthouse is of our nation’s devotion to the rule of law.  There is, after all, a courthouse in every county seat in our nation and they exemplify more than any other physical object, the significance that we Americans attach to providing justice to our citizens.  Some of these courthouses are big and some are small.  Many are significant architecturally and others can only be described as undistinguished.  But whether a courthouse is large or small, imposing or not, it is important to the community in which it is located and the county it serves.  I thought also about how lucky we are in Washington to have some really lovely old courthouses, like the one I was visiting in Waterville, that are a joy to behold.  Unfortunately a few other significant courthouses were not able to escape the wrecker’s ball in recent decades.  But of the 39 county courthouses in our state, a few come readily to my mind as real gems.  I’m thinking of courthouses like that in Dayton (Columbia County), South Bend (Pacific County), Montesano (Grays Harbor County), Spokane (Spokane County), Port Townsend (Jefferson County), and Davenport (Lincoln County).  These old but lovely buildings dominate the skyline of the towns in which they are located and are a constant reminder to us all of our heritage and of the important work we do as judges and court personnel.