Benton officials pick new judge to decide DUIs, small claims and speeding tickets

A city prosecutor was chosen this week to replace a retiring judge in Benton County District Court.

James Bell was appointed by the county commissioners on a unanimous vote.

The Tri-Citian, who is in his 28th year of practicing law, beat out fellow finalists Jennifer Azure and Diana Ruff.

He will serve out the remaining 1 1/2 years of Judge Steve Osborne’s term.

Osborne was appointed to the bench in December 2015 after Judge Bob Ingvalson’s mid-term retirement. He was last elected in 2018.

Osborne’s retirement goes into effect the end of this month.

Bell will join District Court’s four other judges: Katy Butler, Terry Tanner, Dan Kathren and John Ziobro.

District Court judges serve four-year terms and make an annual salary just above $190,000. They preside over misdemeanors and gross misdemeanor criminal cases, traffic infractions and small claims.

Bell’s law firm — Bell Brown & Rio of Kennewick — is under contract to handle city cases in a few jurisdictions, including Pasco and Richland.

He was admitted to practice law in November 1992, and previously worked as a Franklin County deputy prosecutor.

Past judicial openings

This is not the first time he tried to be appointment to the bench.

In 2015, Bell was one of the four finalists when Osborne was selected by commissioners. And in March 2017, he again was a finalist when the board went with John Ziobro to fill the seat vacated by now-Superior Court Judge Joe Burrowes.

Azure also was a finalist in 2015 and 2017. She is a criminal defense attorney who’s focused on juvenile cases in recent years, and serves as a judge pro tem in different Tri-Cities courts.

Ruff, a former Benton County deputy prosecutor, is a judge with the Washington state Office of Administrative Hearings.

Twelve people applied for the rare appointment opportunity to the nonpartisan judicial post.

The other nine were: Shelley Ajax; state Sen. Sharon Brown; Joshua Lilly; Julie Long; Mary Poland; John Raekes; Tali Sams; Brendan Siefken; and Alan Tindell.

Azure topped the Benton Franklin Counties Bar Association poll for “overall first choice” of the 12 initial candidates. She received 23 votes, with Bell and Ruff both getting 11.5 votes.

The county held a special board meeting Tuesday afternoon to interview the three finalists individually.

The commissioners then spent almost 30 minutes in executive session before returning to take a vote.

Commissioner Shon Small started the brief discussion by thanking Bell, Azure and Ruff for putting their “names in the hat and being stellar, stellar candidates for judge.”

“Whatever happens, please put your name in again because I think all three of you will be a judge, either a District Court judge or a Superior Court judge,” Small continued. “You guys have the quality and the ethics that I would like to see as a sitting judge.”

Small made a motion to appoint Bell.

Commissioner Will McKay seconded the motion, saying Small “took the words out of my mouth.”