Elected Washington Supreme Court Justices and Chief Justice to be Sworn in January 13 at Temple of Justice

Elected Washington Supreme Court Justices and Chief Justice to be Sworn in January 13 at Temple of Justice

January 10, 2025

Recently re-elected Washington Supreme Court Justices Steven C. González and Sheryl Gordon McCloud, and recently elected Justice Salvador "Sal" Mungia, will be sworn in to office on Monday, January 13 in a public ceremony in the Temple of Justice on the Capitol Campus in Olympia. Justice Debra Stephens will also be sworn into her new role as Chief Justice, to which she was elected by her fellow justices.

The public ceremony begins at 9:30 a.m. While seating is very limited in the courtroom, the inaugurations will be live-streamed by TVW and recorded for later broadcast.

Washington Supreme Court justices are elected to six-year terms on a staggered schedule, with three Supreme Court seats up for election every other year. Since 1996, an internal vote to determine the position of chief justice has been held by justices of the Court every four years at the Court's November administrative meeting. The justices elected in 2024 to begin new roles and new terms in 2025 are:

Justice Debra L. Stephens will serve as the 59th chief justice of the Washington Supreme Court, succeeding current Chief Justice Steven C. González. Stephens previously served as Chief Justice from 2019-2020, serving out the remainder of Chief Justice Mary Fairhurst's term when she retired. Fairhurst died of cancer in 2021. Stephens has been a member of the Court since January 2008. She previously served as a judge for Division Three of the Court of Appeals, based in Spokane, and is the first judge from that court and the first woman from Eastern Washington to join the state Supreme Court. A native of Spokane, she practiced law and taught as an adjunct professor at Gonzaga University School of Law prior to taking the bench. She appeared as counsel over 125 times in the state Supreme Court in addition to appearances in the Idaho Supreme Court, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and as counsel of record in the United States Supreme Court.

Justice Steven C. González joined the Supreme Court in January, 2012, and won contested races for six-year terms that began in 2013, 2019 and an uncontested election for 2025. Before joining the Supreme Court, Justice González served for 10 years as a trial judge on the King County Superior Court, hearing criminal, civil, juvenile, and family law cases. Prior to serving on the bench, Justice González was an Assistant United States Attorney in the Western District of Washington, a domestic violence prosecutor for the City of Seattle and in private practice at a Seattle law firm. He served as chief justice of the Court from 2020 - 2024.

Justice Sheryl Gordon McCloud was elected to the Supreme Court in 2012 after nearly 30 years as a trial and appellate lawyer. She was reelected to terms that began in 2019 and 2024. Before becoming a justice, while litigating cases throughout the state, she received the Washington Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers' highest award, the William O. Douglas Award. Justice Gordon McCloud also helped found the Washington Appellate Lawyers Association and taught classes at Seattle University School of Law. Now, as a Justice, she serves as Chair of the Washington Supreme Court Gender and Justice Commission and represents the Court on the State Bar's Council on Public Defense; she also serves on the Court's Rules Committee, Art Committee, and Committee on Pattern Jury Instructions. She has received awards for her work as a Justice from groups ranging from Washington Women Lawyers to the Cardozo Society.

Justice Salvador "Sal" A. Mungia was elected to the Washington Supreme Court in November 2024 and was sworn into office January 2, 2025, to fill out the remaining 12 days of retiring Justice Susan Owens' term. Justice Owens served on the Court for 24 years, after 19 years as a Clallam County District Court judge and a tribal court judge. Justice Mungia was born and raised in Tacoma, the son of immigrants: his father came from Mexico and his mother from Japan. He graduated from Pacific Lutheran University with honors in 1981 and from the Georgetown University Law Center with honors in 1984. After graduating from law school, Justice Mungia clerked for a Washington Supreme Court justice and then clerked for a federal district court judge before joining the law firm of Gordon Thomas Honeywell, where he was the managing partner the last two years of his practice. Justice Mungia was in private practice for 38 years, specializing in complex civil trial and appellate work, before joining the Court.

For full biographies on all justices of the Washington Supreme Court, please visit our website.

Visitors to the Temple of Justice can enter the building at the front entrance on the south-side, up the steps, facing the legislative building. All members of the public will undergo security screening, which involves passing through metal detectors, emptying pockets into containers, and having bags visually inspected. Weapons are not permitted inside the Temple of Justice under state law, see RCW 9.41.305; Carrying Weapons on Campus | Washington State Capitol Campus.

ADA access to the building is available through a secure entrance on the east side of the building facing Cherry Lane, see Campus Map | Washington State Capitol Campus.

Parking on the Capitol Campus is very limited (see web page on traveling to and parking at the Campus). Parking will be available in the General Administration Visitor Lot, in the NRB Visitor Lot, and in the Plaza Garage, with shuttle runs every few minutes. Parking along the diagonal roads leading into the campus will be unavailable.

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