Judge retiring after 25 years

By Jeremy Pawloski | The Olympian • Published March 26, 2008

Thurston County Superior Court Judge Richard A. Strophy will end a 25-year career on the bench, including 23 years as a Superior Court judge, when he retires effective Jan. 10, he announced Tuesday.

Strophy, 63, said he wanted to announce his retirement well in advance so he'd give potential successors ample time to announce their candidacy and run for the Superior Court judgeship, a nonpartisan, elected position in Washington.

Strophy did not give a specific reason why he decided not to seek another term, but he noted that his 12 grandchildren are getting older every year, "and I want to be able to spend more time with them."

"I'm very grateful and appreciative that the voters have re-elected me five terms unopposed and given me the opportunity to be part of the law and justice effort to maintain the rule of law," he said. "I've enjoyed it. I truly have mixed emotions."

Before Strophy was elected as a Thurston County District Court judge in 1982 and a Superior Court judge in 1984, he started out working for the county as a prosecutor in 1971.

His public-service career goes back further, to 1968, when he began working at the state Employment Security Department while at Gonzaga Law School.

Thurston County Prosecuting Attorney Ed Holm said he remembers Strophy as a formidable opponent during that time, when Holm, then a defense attorney, faced off against Strophy in criminal cases.

"I don't know if I ever won one against him," Holm said of Strophy's record as a prosecutor.

In recent years, Strophy has made his mark as the presiding judge for Thurston County Drug Court. Many people with legal ties said Tuesday that Strophy's leadership was instrumental in starting the program here. Drug court is a voluntary, court-supervised treatment program that gives some defendants the opportunity to have their nonviolent felonies dismissed — provided they complete the program, which requires them to stay sober and meet specific goals, such as continuing their education or maintaining continuous employment.