Herald staff

EDMONDS — Three attorneys have been picked as finalists to serve as a judge in the South Division of Snohomish County District Court.

The County Council has scheduled interviews Friday afternoon with Doug Fair, Elizabeth Fraser and Anthony Howard.

The council expects to make its selection Wednesday

The person picked by the council will assume the judge’s job previously held by Tim Ryan, who retired at the end of 2012.

Ryan, 65, had served on the District Court bench for two decades. However, he angered many after avoiding charges stemming from a drunken-driving arrest last summer. Ryan refused to participate in sobriety testing. King County prosecutors later determined there was insufficient evidence to bring a case against him.

A total of 19 attorneys asked the council to consider them for the post.

The finalists each are well known in the county’s legal community.

Fair is a former deputy prosecutor who has served as presiding judge in Edmonds Municipal Court since 2005. He also works as a hearing examiner for the cities of Lake Stevens, Lynnwood, Monroe, Mountlake Terrace and Mukilteo.

Fraser has run the county’s office of public defense since 2001, working to make certain that qualified indigent defendants receive legal representation in criminal cases. She is a former public defender.

Howard was appointed a district court commissioner in 2011 and also has served as a judge pro tempore. He worked as a lawyer here for more than a decade, first as public defender, then in private practice starting in 2006.

The person selected to fill vacant judge position will serve until the general election in November.

The appointment schedule is designed to allow the new judge time to attend judicial college training, which is scheduled to begin late this month.