Washington Court of Appeals


The Washington Court of Appeals is the intermediate level appellate court for the state of Washington.
The court is divided into three divisions. Division I is based in Seattle, Division II is based in Tacoma, and Division III is based in Spokane.

History

As early as 1929, the Washington judiciary observed a need for an intermediate appellate court to relieve the heavy workload of the Washington Supreme Court. That year the state's Judicial Council suggested the establishment of such a court as a possible option for judicial restructuring. Nevertheless, the state legislature took no steps until the mid-1960s, when work began on a Court of Appeals.
The Washington citizenry adopted a Constitutional Amendment on November 5, 1968, which authorized the legislature to create a Court of Appeals and to define its composition and jurisdiction. On May 12, 1969, the legislature passed the enabling act that established a Court of Appeals with three divisions and a total of twelve judges. Governor Dan Evans appointed the initial twelve judges with the judges all facing election at the general election of 1970 and with each elected judge initially serving terms of two, four or six years determined by lot.

Composition

Twenty-two judges currently sit on the Washington Court of Appeals Court, divided into three geographic divisions. Within each division, panels of three judges hear each appeal. The court never sits en banc. Voters elect Court of Appeals judges for 6-year terms, and a judge, like other Washington judges, must retire at the end of the calendar year in which he or she reaches the age of 75. Each division contains three electoral districts, with judges within the divisions being elected only from within those districts.

Jurisdiction

By statute, the court is empowered to hear the following types of cases:
1. As a matter of right, all appeals from final judgments' of the Superior Court, and all other orders that effectively cut-off further litigation, such as condemnation orders, termination of parental rights, juvenile court proceedings, and incompetency proceedings.

Division I

Division I sits in Seattle, and is the smallest of the three geographic divisions, though the largest by population. It stretches from the White River in the south to the Canada–US border in the north, and from the Cascade Range in the east to the San Juan Islands in the west. The division hears appeals from Island, King, San Juan, Skagit, Snohomish and Whatcom. This division has ten judges:
Division II sits in Tacoma and hears appeals from the counties of Clallam, Clark, Cowlitz, Grays Harbor, Jefferson, Kitsap, Lewis, Mason, Pacific, Pierce, Skamania, Thurston and Wahkiakum. This division has seven judges:
Division III sits in Spokane and includes the three-fifths of the state's land area that lies east of the Cascade Range. In addition to the state's second largest city, Spokane; it embraces the regional cities of Yakima and the Tri-Cities of Kennewick, Pasco, and Richland.
It hears appeals from Adams, Asotin, Benton, Chelan, Columbia, Douglas, Ferry, Franklin, Garfield, Grant, Kittitas, Klickitat, Lincoln, Okanigan, Pend Oreille, Spokane, Stevens, Walla Walla, Whitman and Yakima counties. This division has five judges:
Skamania County is in Division II; Klickitat County is in Division III. These counties are sparsely populated, so do not qualify for their own Superior Court Judge. They must share one Superior Court Judge. When the judge presides in Skamania County, Division II opinions are followed. When the judge presides in Klickitat County, Division III opinions are followed. When the Divisions issue conflicting opinions, practitioners must be careful to follow/cite from the appropriate appellate division.