Kotek appoints Washington County judge to newly created seat

To lessen the existing burden on the criminal justice system, Gov. Tina Kotek has filled a newly created Washington County judge seat.

Elizabeth R. Lemoine will join Washington County's 15 other county circuit judges in a new seat created by Senate Bill 1541, which adds new judge seats to Washington, Clackamas and Jackson counties.

“Lemoine will be a fair and balanced judge on the Washington County Circuit Court,” Kotek said in a release Friday, July 5. “Her local expertise and wide breadth and depth of legal expertise will serve the Court well.”

The governor's office said Lemoine has lived and worked in Washington County for over three decades, including six years as a volunteer pro tem judge. She has 20 years of civil practice experience across Oregon.

The legislative move came as regional courts face high workloads. According to the National Center for State Courts study, Washington and Clackamas counties could use four more judges each, three more than the law created space for. The original iteration of the bill called for adding two new trial judges.

Second-ranking Washington County has complained for years that it has disproportionately fewer judges per capita than next-door Multnomah County, Oregon’s most populous county, which has 38.

SB 1541, passed as the 2024 short session ended, added one new county circuit court seats in each of Washington, Clackamas and Jackson counties. The law took effect July 1.

Clackamas County's new judge seat opens July 1, 2025.