YAKIMA — What do you call 23 lawyers in Yakima County? Try, “your honor.”
The Yakima Herald-Republic reports lawyers are being sworn in Friday as judges pro tem. They’re volunteering their time to help tackle a backlog of civil and domestic-relations matters in Superior Court.
The county developed the program based in part on recommendations from local lawyers who were frustrated at frequent delays in their cases. Officials didn’t have money to hire new judges and don’t expect to for the foreseeable future.
The volunteers will undergo regular training that the county offers for judges pro tem. The parties in a case must agree on which attorney will be their judge.
Officials hope the effort will cut the county’s 550-case backlog in half by the end of the year.
Information from: Yakima Herald-Republic, www.yakima-herald.com
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