FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE       
September 21, 2005      

Contact Alfredo Tryferis
Communications Specialist
206-733-5932; alfredot@wsba.org

State Senator Stephen L. Johnson Receives WSBA Outstanding Elected Official Award

Seattle, Washington, September 21, 2005 — The Washington State Bar Association (WSBA) announced today that State Senator Stephen L. Johnson received its 2005 Outstanding Elected Official Award. This award is presented to an elected official in recognition of outstanding service to the citizens of Washington state and special contributions to the legal profession. Sen. Johnson received the award at the WSBA's Annual Awards Dinner held September 15 at the Fairmont Olympic Hotel in Seattle.

Sen. Johnson was a key player in the bipartisan success of the Justice in Jeopardy legislative and budget package. The ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, he led his caucus to support indigent criminal-defense services by helping to pass legislation that alleviates the court funding crisis in trial court operations and civil legal aid.
 
A graduate of the University of Washington Law School, Sen. Johnson was first elected to the Senate in 1994 representing the 47th Legislative District, and is currently serving his third term. In addition to the Judiciary Committee, he is a member of the Senate's Rules Committee and Health and Long-Term Care Committee, and the Legislative Ethics Board. His community involvement includes serving on the Kent School Board, Green River College Foundation, Kent Kiwanis Club, and Ken Library Board.

About the WSBA
The Washington State Bar Association is an instrumentality of the state exercising a governmental function authorized by the Washington State Supreme Court to license the state's 29,200 lawyers. The WSBA both regulates lawyers under the authority of the Court and serves its members as a professional association ¯ all without public funding.

As a regulatory agency, it administers the bar admission process, including the bar exam; provides record-keeping and licensing functions; and administers the lawyer-discipline system. As a professional association, the WSBA provides continuing legal education for attorneys, in addition to numerous other educational and member-service activities.

The governance of the WSBA is vested in its 14-person Board of Governors. There are three governors from the seventh congressional district; one from each of the other eight districts; and three at-large members, one of whom represents the Young Lawyers Division. The 2005-2006 president is S. Brooke Taylor, of Port Angeles, and the 2005-2006 president-elect is Ellen Conedera Dial, of Seattle.

The board meets regularly (every six weeks) at various locations around the state, and its meetings are open to the public. Much of the work of the Bar is carried out through 23 standing committees; 24 sections; and a Young Lawyers Division, with its many committees.