(The Center Square) – For the first time since its inception, the city of Spokane’s Community Court will have a new judge presiding over the docket this July, local officials told The Center Square Monday.
The Spokane Municipal Court launched the tribunal in 2013 as one of five therapeutic courts, focusing on reducing recidivism with wraparound services. Community Court often allows low-level offenders to accept treatment and/or housing in exchange for a reduced penalty, creating accountability concerns.
Judge Mary C. Logan has presided over Community Court since it began, despite the common practice of rotating municipal assignments every few years. Some say her compassion has created a “revolving door” due to a lack of accountability, but that didn’t stop voters from re-electing Logan last November.
“We’re just rotating judges,” Court Administrator Jacquie van Wormer told The Center Square. “Judge [Gloria] Ochoa-Bruck will be moving into Community Court July 1, and Judge Logan will maintain her Veterans Court. It’s not uncommon to rotate judges across the different therapeutic courts over time.”
The announcement follows Logan’s November win against a conservative challenger who had vowed to publish data on the overall effectiveness of Community Court if he won the election. Despite centering much of their campaigns on how to operate the Community Court, neither will oversee it come July 1.
When asked about timing, given the last election, van Wormer said she started the job a few months ago, so the city is looking at docket management. She said this change was made by Judge Kristin C. O’Sullivan, who presides over the entire Spokane Municipal Court, “with input from the full bench.”
Ochoa-Bruck told The Center Square that van Wormer came in with a wealth of experience and noted that it’s best practice to rotate assignments every three years. After 12 years under Logan, she said that her focus is now on how Spokane can better address the fentanyl crisis and overdoses among the homeless.
“I don’t want to pre-judge,” Ochoa-Bruck told The Center Square, when asked about changes she may implement in Community Court after taking over this July. “The environment has changed, and I think that our response needs to also kind of be responsive and adapt to what we’re facing as a community.”
Mayor Lisa Brown endorsed Logan last fall with progressives on the Spokane City Council and dozens of other public officials across the state. Councilmember Michael Cathcart, the only conservative left on the dais, welcomed the judicial reassignment in an interview with The Center Square on Monday.
Cathcart said he heard about the upcoming change a month ago but didn’t receive any other details.
“Some new blood running that court is going to be a good thing,” he said. “It’s very apparent to me that she does care about accountability, but also she really understands and cares about the people.”
Gavin Cooley, director of strategic initiatives at the Spokane Business Association, said Logan deserves credit for treating folks with dignity, but that it’s time for a change. Cooley told The Center Square that “compassion without accountability” has created a “revolving door” for treatment-resistant drug users.
He suggested that Ochoa-Bruck should create an accountability dashboard to track how often people enroll in services after being referred by outreach workers and law enforcement, how long they remain in treatment and how often those same individuals are rearrested and returned to Community Court.
“When you don’t have accountability, there’s a large possibility you’re sentencing these people to, you know, death,” Cooley told The Center Square. “You’ve got to realize when you let people off the hook, or you don’t follow through, then the risk is that you’re adding to that overdose death rate.”
Logan and Brown didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment before publishing on Monday.
