Elected judge will start his term early

Judge Michael Riedel will start his tenure on the Multnomah County Circuit Court six months early.

Gov. Tina Kotek announced Riedel’s immediate appointment to succeed Judge Susan Svetkey, who is retiring after almost 25 years on the bench. Riedel was the only candidate to file for Svetkey’s Position 16, which he won in the May 21 primary. His elected six-year term would have started in January.

Kotek’s announcement Wednesday, July 10, puts Riedel in Family Court, where Svetkey had been the chief judge for many years. Svetkey, a co-founder of the Juvenile Rights Project, was appointed to a judgeship by then-Gov. John Kitzhaber back in October 1999.

Riedel has been a referee for Multnomah County Circuit Court since October 2022.

He earned a bachelor's degree in 2000 from Western Illinois University and his law degree in 2003 from Northern Illinois University. After a stint in the Winnebago County (Illinois) state's attorney's office, he was a deputy district attorney in Multnomah County from 2006 to 2013, and a lawyer with the Portland firm of Goldberg Jones from 2013 until he took the referee position with the court.

pwong@pamplinmedia.com