Representative Jamila Taylor, chair of the Civil Rights & Judiciary Committee, opened the Jan. 15 hearing on House Bill 1144, which would increase the number of superior court judges in Skagit County from four to five.

The measure matters because, supporters said, changes in caseload composition and recent temporary funding that expires this year have left the county short of judicial capacity to both process routine hearings and hold timely trials.

House Bill 1144 would make permanent a judicial position that local officials temporarily funded after the COVID-19 backlog. Yolanda Baker, staff to the committee, told members that “the number of superior court judges in each county is set by statute” and that the legislature relies on an annual workload analysis by the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) to determine judicial needs. Baker said Skagit County currently has four superior court judges and that the bill would increase that number to five.

Representative Debra Lekanoff, the bill’s sponsor, said Skagit County has relied on a mix of judges and commissioners — “four full time judges, two full time commissioners and one part time commissioner” — and that one full-time commissioner position was created and funded temporarily in 2021 to address pandemic backlogs. “My intent of my request today is clear,” Lekanoff said. “A fifth permanent full time judge for Skagit County Court will allow them to meet the demands of daily hearings, emergency requests, while still handling trials within a reasonable time.”

Haley Perkins, a court program supervisor at the Administrative Office of the Courts, testified in support and said Skagit is “under resourced.” Perkins cited the Washington State Center for Court Research’s judicial needs estimate and said the tool shows Skagit’s need exceeds current staffing; the latest estimate cited in the hearing indicated a larger need than the county’s current complement, though Perkins did not provide a single-rank ordering for all counties.

Judge Laura Raquelme, assistant presiding judge of Skagit County Superior Court, described recent legal changes that have increased courtroom time for pretrial and protection-order matters and said the shift has reduced bench time available for trials. She said the court is piloting a caseflow-management system with the AOC and that an additional judge would free capacity to conduct family-law, dependency and minor-guardianship trials.

Peter Browning, chair of the Skagit County Board of Commissioners, told the committee the county has budgeted for a new judge and support staff and is planning courtroom construction to accommodate growth. Browning said the county “is prepared to pay for — we have budgeted significantly for a — new judge.”

Representative Jim Walsh asked the AOC whether Skagit ranked among the most urgent needs for new judges; AOC staff said they did not have the ranking on hand and offered to follow up after the hearing.

No committee action or vote was taken at the hearing; the item was presented for committee consideration and public record. The committee closed the hearing and moved to its next agenda item.

For now, HB 1144 remains a bill under consideration; supporters emphasized local funding commitments and facility planning while AOC agreed to provide additional ranking information to committee members.