Introducing Judge Jean Rietschel

There’ll be several open seats on the King County Superior Court bench when voters go to the polls this fall. To date, one of the candidates has more time on the bench than all of the other new Superior Court candidates combined: Municipal Court Judge Jean Rietschel.

With more than 1,000 cases adjudicated to date, Judge Jean Rietschel has overseen cases that range from domestic violence and criminal infractions to civil land use disputes. Judge Jean Rietschel has been a fair, hard-working and stable influence on maintaining justice on the Municipal Court bench.

Originally appointed to the Municipal Court by former Seattle Mayor Norm Rice in 1996, Judge Jean has been voted presiding judge by her peers, handling the administrative leadership of growing city courts.

In her twelve years on the bench, Judge Jean has consistently been top-rated by attorney evaluation polls. She has been rated Outstanding by the Municipal League of King County and Exceptionally Well Qualified by the King County Bar Association, the Asian Bar Association of Washington, the Washington Women Lawyers, the Latina/o Bar Association of Washington, and QLaw: the GLBT Bar Association of Washington. She has been endorsed by the Seattle PI, The Stranger, and Seattle Gay News.

She instituted and presided over the Domestic Violence Court which enables the parties to stay before the same judge during all related cases. In addition to the Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee, she has served on the Trial Court Coordinating Committee and the Executive Committee of Seattle Municipal Court. She also is a Board member of the Seattle Counseling Service.

Prior to her judicial appointment, Judge Jean was a Vista attorney with Institutional Legal Services representing juveniles in state institutions, a Public Defender for eight years representing misdemeanor, felonies, juvenile, appeal and civil commitment cases, and in private practice representing clients in a broad range of legal issues.

Judge Jean Rietschel lives in Seattle with her partner of 30 years, Lois Thetford, a physician’s assistant and co-founder of the 45th Street Community Clinic. In her spare time, Judge Jean likes playing with her five year old grandson, Max, gardening, kayaking and reading.