Chelan County To Extend Offer For Replacement District Court Judge This Week

Chelan County commissioners are in the process of appointing a replacement for the seat being vacated by District Court Judge Kyle Mott. 

Commissioners carried out candidate interviews behind closed doors Monday morning in an abbreviated session and then adjourned for the week. 

County spokesperson Jill FitzSimmons says 30-minute interviews were conducted with three candidates after two who had made a list of five finalists dropped out of the running. 

"Staff was directed to make an offer," said FitzSimmons. "We'll do that sometime this week. And then the appointment will be made when the commissioners are back in session on Monday." 

Mott is resigning for personal reasons on December 5th after being elected as junior District Court judge in 2018. 

The three finalists interviewed Monday were attorney Allen Blackmon and Chelan County deputy prosecutors Ryan Valaas and Lee O’Brien. 

 Deputy Washington attorney general Dale Lehrman and attorney John Volyn dropped out of the running.  

Volyn currently holds a roughly 53%-47% lead over Blackmon from last week's election in which both are running to replace retiring Judge Roy Fore. . 

FitzSimmons said the commissioners held an abbreviated session Monday because of illness and time constraints. 

Commissioner Tiffany Gering was out sick, while Commissioner Kevin Overbay had to leave early for Renton in order to attend the Washington State Association of Counties 2022 County Leaders Conference. 

Commissioner Overbay and Commissioner Bob Bugert had a quorum of two commissioners present that allowed them to conduct the interviews.