Judge Ingvalson retires from Benton County District Court

After almost 22 years on the Benton County District Court bench, Judge Bob Ingvalson left this week without fanfare.

Ingvalson, 62, submitted his one-sentence retirement letter to county commissioners Thursday. It’s effective Oct 31.

“He didn’t let us all know until right at the end that he was leaving,” said District Court Administrator Jacki Lahtinen. “We knew it was coming, we just didn’t know when.”

Ingvalson could not be reached Friday about his retirement.

Called “Judge Bob” by office staff, he spent a big part of his work day at the Benton County Courthouse in his hometown of Prosser.

Ingvalson’s vacancy means the county commissioners will have to appoint a new judge from what’s expected to be a large pool of applicants.

District Court judges serve four-year terms and make an annual salary of nearly $155,000. They preside over misdemeanors, infractions, criminal traffic and non-traffic cases and mitigation, and contested hearings.

Commissioner Shon Small said Ingvalson’s eventual retirement was expected, but “the short and sweet resignation letter” still surprised them.

“When it comes to law enforcement, to include the judicial system, we call it the ABC’s: accuracy, brevity and clarity. And I think that actually he fulfilled all of those with precise accuracy,” Small said. “We are very excited for (Ingvalson). We wish him the utmost enjoyable retirement in basically his new chapter in life.”

County officials have not had the chance yet to discuss picking a replacement. Applicants will go before an interview board, which will send the top three candidates to the commissioners for final selection, Small said.

In the interim, the five-judge bench based in Kennewick will operate with four judges, with someone going to Prosser to cover the twice-weekly dockets.

Ingvalson and his wife, Polly, have four children and two grandkids.

Lahtinen said Ingvalson decided it was time to go because he’d hit retirement age and had the necessary years under his retirement system.

“He’s tremendously ethical, he’s honest and he has a high moral regard,” Lahtinen said. “He was a very dedicated judge on the bench and I thought he was very fair in his decisions. It’s a very difficult job, and we will miss him tremendously.”

Ingvalson was appointed to the bench in December 1993 to replace Judge Craig Matheson, who had been elected to Benton-Franklin Superior Court.

Ingvalson was in private practice from 1978-84, spending several years as a public defender in Benton County. He worked in the Yakima County Prosecutor’s Office for 14 months, then joined the Benton County Prosecutor’s Office for seven years. He was the chief deputy prosecutor under Prosecutor Andy Miller.

District Court Presiding Judge Katy Butler said she first worked with Ingvalson when they both were deputy prosecutors.

“He is just a great wealth of knowledge and experience, and he was a great support to me in my career,” Butler said. “He was the kind of person, if I had a question, I knew I could call him and he would be able to give me an answer or tell me where to look. That is a great resource that will be missed.

“He’s made a great contribution to the justice system here in Benton County,” she added.

This story was originally published October 30, 2015 at 6:10 PM with the headline "Judge Ingvalson retires from Benton County District Court."