Note: New definitions and requirements for Judicial members, including the requirements for returning to Active membership, are in effect for the 2012 license year. Please refer to the membership section of the WSBA Bylaws for complete details.
Active members may request Judicial membership by submitting an Application for Change of Membership to Judicial to the WSBA to the attention of Membership Changes. You qualify for Judicial membership if you are one of the types of judicial officers listed in the WSBA Bylaws Art. III sec. A.3.
1) A current judge, commissioner, or magistrate judge of the courts of record in the State of Washington, or the courts of the United States, including Bankruptcy courts;
2) A current judge, commissioner, or magistrate in the district or municipal courts in the State of Washington, provided that such position requires the person to be a lawyer;
3) A current senior status or recall judge in the Courts of the United States;
4) An administrative law judge, which shall be defined as either:
(a) Current federal judges created under Article I of the United States Constitution, excluding Bankruptcy court judges, or created by the Code of Federal Regulations, who by virtue of their position are prohibited by the United States Code and/or the Code of Federal Regulations from practicing law; or
(b) Full-time Washington State administrative law judges in positions created by either the Revised Code of Washington or the Washington Administrative Code; or
5) A current Tribal Court judge in the State of Washington.
Judicial members who wish to preserve eligibility to transfer to another membership class upon leaving service as a judicial officer are required to provide annual registry information and pay a $50 annual license fee.
Judicial members who are administrative law judges must report MCLE credits in the same manner as Active members.
Beginning with the 2012 licensing year, Judicial members who do not pay the annual license fee or annually report registry information and later need or want to change to another membership class will be required to pay the active license fee for each year not in compliance from 2012 forward before changing to another membership class.
Judicial members who are no longer eligible for judicial membership and who take no action to change to another membership class will be transferred to Inactive membership. They will then need to comply with inactive membership requirements and failure to do so will result in suspension of their membership.
For information about returning to Active membership from Judicial membership, see To Active From Judicial.