Three candidates vie for GC Superior Court judgeship

EPHRATA — Incumbent appointee Jennifer Richardson will face two challengers for her Grant County Superior Court judgeship in the upcoming Aug. 4 primary election.

Also seeking the Position 3 judicial post are Trevor Bevier of Soap Lake, who currently serves as a Grant County deputy prosecuting attorney, and Kenneth Chadwick of Moses Lake, a private attorney and senior partner with the Ephrata law firm of STW Law PLLC.

The top two candidates will advance to the Nov. 3 general election. Primary ballots are scheduled to be mailed to Grant County voters beginning July 17.

The three are vying to fill the unexpired two-year term of former Grant County Superior Court Judge Tyson Hill, who was appointed last November by Gov. Bob Ferguson to the state appellate court effective Jan. 1. A few days later, Ferguson named Richardson as Hill’s interim successor. 

Grant County also has two other superior court judges — Melissa Chlarson and Anna Gigliotti.

Judicial positions are nonpartisan and there are restrictions that limit comments by candidates on potential future rulings. Consequently, in casting their ballots, voters may ponder the merits of incumbency, “hometown” recognition, endorsements, legal experience, and the intangible quality of “judicial temperament.”

Superior courts handle felony criminal cases, civil disputes over $50,000, real estate matters, domestic relations, juvenile and probate courts, adoptions and child dependencies, and appeals from district court. In Washington, the current annual salary is $244,631 with half paid by the state and half by the county in which the judge presides. 

Here’s a profile of Grant County’s three primary judicial candidates:

TREVOR BEVIER

Bevier, 45, a Grant County resident since childhood, joined the prosecutor’s office last September and primarily handles civil cases and litigation, preparing legal opinions for county officials, and reviewing county legal documents and contracts.

Previously, he worked as a legal intern and associate attorney for 14 years for the Huberdeau Law Office in Moses Lake. Case work included civil, contract, probate, real estate, bankruptcy, and personal injury law representing individual clients and organizations in state and federal courts in Washington.

Bevier also has prior work experience in real estate sales and as a title insurance officer between 2000 and 2009, and as a shop and farm hand while attending high school and college. As a youngster, he delivered newspapers locally.

“In fact, I started out delivering newspapers to the Grant County Courthouse when I was old enough to have a paper route,” Bevier said in a candidate questionnaire to GCJ.news.

“From that day forward, I have had a connection to the courthouse,” he said, noting the ongoing associations as a title insurance officer, private practice attorney, and now deputy prosecutor.

“I’ve seen and experienced the matters (that) residents of our county face on all sides, whether from summer jobs in construction and agriculture to handling matters with integrity in the courtroom,” said Bevier.

It is the combination of “real world and professional experience that sets me apart from any other candidate for Superior Court Judge,” he said.

If elected, Bevier believes he can “provide some additional efficiencies to further elevate the Grant County Superior Court.” A primary concern, he said, “is to hear cases and render decisions in a timely manner” with the involved parties feeling their matters will be “heard and decided with care and consideration …." 

Bevier is a 1999 graduate of Ephrata High School, 2001 of Big Bend Community College, 2011 from Central Washington University in Ellensburg, and 2014 from the Gonzaga University School of Law in Spokane.

Bevier said his campaign has been endorsed by county prosecutor Brandon Guernsey, retired Grant County District Court Judge Richard Fitterer, Grant County commissioner Cindy Carter, and local attorneys Jeremy Huberdeau, Zach Acres, Damiano Cacchiotti, and David Kazemba. He lists other other community supporters Dr. Dino Cacchiotti, Jason Hall, Nick and Donna Tommer, Jon and Jessica Kersey, Dustin Canfield, Aaron Fitterer, Shaun Moberg, and Ken and Bonnie Thompson.

Bevier and his wife Brittany have a 3-year-old son.

View more at electtrevorbevier.com.

KENNETH ‘KEN’ CHADWICK

Chadwick, 63, is also campaigning on the breadth of his work and legal experience, beginning as a business owner in the early 1980s, followed by 15 years as a police officer, then as an attorney starting in 2003.

“My combined experience in law enforcement, litigation, business ownership, and raising a family brings a practical and balanced perspective to the courtroom,” Chadwick stated in a questionnaire response.

Chadwick said his campaign is primarily focused on “adding to the quality and depth of our current elected Grant County Superior Court,” and “undoing” what he called the governor’s “irregular appointment of Jennifer Richardson, who is not a Grant County attorney and was not recommended by the elected Grant County Commissioners.”

Chadwick earned a bachelor’s degree in law and justice studies from Central Washington University in 1998, worked in law enforcement as an officer and sergeant in patrol and detective units, then graduated magna cum laude in 2002 from the Seattle University School of Law. He began his law career with a Seattle firm, then joined the Schultheis Tabler Wallace law firm in Ephrata in 2007, becoming a partner in 2009.

Chadwick cites his experience in local, state, and federal courts in Washington handling family, criminal, and predominantly civil cases, along with free legal “pro bono” work for charities and military veterans. He has also been appointed as a arbitrator in superior court to hear civil cases, including “guardian ad litem” matters to protect the interests of minors, and as a pro tem court commissioner in certain parental rights, juvenile criminal, and domestic violence protection cases.

“It requires strong legal acumen and broad life experiences coupled with compassion, empathy, and fortitude to reach and make tough decisions that impact the lives of fellow citizens,” he said.

If elected, Chadwick said he would work with the other elected judges to “increase judicial efficiency and lower litigation costs” through proposed changes to local court rules and researching the potential to add more courtroom space.

Chadwick said he is endorsed by retired Grant County Superior Court Judge John Knodell, current District Court Judge Nick Wallace, retired state Supreme Court Justice Richard Stevens, Ephrata physician Dr. Lowell Allred, and “numerous Grant County attorneys.”

Chadwick and his wife Linda have two adult sons and three grandchildren.

View more at kenchadwickforjudge.com.

JENNIFER RICHARDSON

Richardson was admitted to the Washington State Bar Association as an attorney in June 2000. In a press statement issued at the time of her judicial appointment in January, the governor’s office described Richardson as a “career litigator with more than two decades of legal experience.”

That included working for the state Attorney General’s office for 12 years, with four years as a managing assistant attorney general based in Wenatchee who advised and represented state agencies in Grant, Douglas, Chelan and Okanogan counties.

Prior to that, Richardson spent more than 12 years as a deputy prosecutor at the Okanogan County Prosecuting Attorney’s office, including nine years as chief deputy criminal prosecutor. Richardson also previously worked as a public defender in Colville, representing defendants in a variety of proceedings, the governor’s office said.

Richardson did not respond to a candidate’s questionnaire from GCJ.news.

“Throughout my career as a chief criminal deputy prosecutor, assistant attorney general, and now judge, I have dedicated myself to public service and the fair administration of justice,” Richardson said in her voters pamphlet profile. “My legal experience includes criminal, civil, dependency, guardianship, protection order, and government matters, as well as extensive courtroom practice throughout Central Washington.”

“I believe judicial integrity, preparation, professionalism, and independence matter,” she stated.

Richardson holds a bachelor’s degree from Gonzaga University in Spokane and received her law degree at Syracuse University.

Outside the courtroom, Richardson has served on the state Attorney General’s Racial Equity Unit Goal Planning, Manager Training, and Basic Litigation Skills committees. She received numerous performance awards from the AG’s Office during her tenure there.

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Campaign contributions and expenditures for the three judicial candidates can be viewed on the Washington State Public Disclosure Commission website.