The Fight to Divide Washington's Courts
A legislative battle looms over a proposal to split the state into two judicial districts, sparking a debate on government efficiency and the necessity of regional courts.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Representative Doolittle's bill to divide the state of Washington into two judicial districts is receiving the careful attention of the committee on judiciary. The bill proposes that the counties of Spokane, Stevens, Okanogan, Douglas, Lincoln, Adams, Kittitas, Skagit, San Juan, Island, Snohomish, Clallam, Jefferson, King and Kitsap constitute a new district to be called the northern district of Washington. The remaining counties constitute the southern district. The argument being offered against the bill is that this is no time to be creating new judicial districts, and that if the great state of New York can get along with two districts, it is thought Washington will have to worry along with one.
“If the great state of New York can get along with two districts, it is thought Washington will have to worry along with one.”
Today, Washington operates with two federal judicial districts—Western and Eastern—with courthouses in cities like Seattle and Spokane. The debate in 1894 highlights the perennial struggle of balancing accessibility to justice with the administrative costs of managing a rapidly growing frontier state.
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