News and Updates
2025 Municipal Court Judicial Candidate Evaluation Results
(SPOKANE – August 13, 2025) The Spokane County Bar Association (SCBA) has released the results of the Judicial Candidates Evaluation Panel (Evaluation Panel) and Bar Poll. The SCBA is committed to responsibly reporting on the qualifications of candidates for judicial office and believes that the bar poll and judicial evaluation provide valuable information to the voting public.
Candidates are not required to participate. If a candidate elects not to participate, the SCBA will make no evaluation of nor comment on that specific candidate. However, the SCBA considers this evaluation to be the best process by which its members can make known their views as to those best qualified; accordingly, the SCBA requests that serious consideration be given to such evaluations.
Bar Poll
The Bar Poll was conducted by Washington State University’s Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology, and is sent to all voting SCBA members in good standing. The Bar Poll measured legal ability, judicial temperament, integrity, relevant legal experience, and suitability. For each criterion candidates were rated along the following four-point scale as follows:
- Not Qualified
- Qualified
- Well Qualified
- Exceptionally Well Qualified
The results reported below show the average ratings for the candidate for the five stated categories:
| Municipal Court Position 2 |
Legal Ability |
Judicial Temperament | Integrity | Relevant Legal Experience |
Suitability |
| Mary C. Logan |
3.19 |
3.16 | 3.24 | 3.38 |
3.27 |
| Lynden Smithson |
2.63 |
2.75 | 2.59 | 2.69 |
2.71 |
| Municipal Court Position 3 |
Legal Ability |
Judicial Temperament | Integrity | Relevant Legal Experience |
Suitability |
| Sarah Freedman |
2.12 |
1.99 | 2.20 | 2.19 |
1.97 |
| Gloria Ochoa-Bruck |
2.47 |
2.39 | 2.49 | 2.55 |
2.39 |
Judicial Candidates Evaluation Panel
The Evaluation Panel is comprised of attorneys and retired judges representing criminal prosecution and defense, the Gonzaga School of Law, and a variety of private practices. The Evaluation Panel interviewed candidates, reviewed candidate materials and took into consideration Bar Poll findings to come to its conclusions.
The Evaluation Panel results are as follows:
Spokane Municipal Court, Position 2
Mary C. Logan Exceptionally Well Qualified
Lynden Smithson Well Qualified
Spokane Municipal Court, Position 3
Sarah Freedman Qualified
Gloria Ochoa-Bruck Well Qualified
Posted/last updated - August 13, 2025
2025 Title 11 Court Visitor Training - Full Training Offered
The Title 11 Adult Court Visitor Training Committee is considering conducting training for individuals not currently on the Court’s Registry. If you are interested in attending a full two-day training program to become qualified as a TITLE 11 COURT VISITOR or know someone who may be interested, please register for the full training (2 day program) at https://members.spokanebar.org/ap/Events/Register/J5FYWGgSJCzC3. You may be required to create an account. The cost for full training registration is $375. If five or more register for the full training by September 2nd, full training will take place on October 23th and October 24th, otherwise the committee will proceed with just the mandatory refresher training on October 24th. If full training is not offered due to lack of interest, anyone having registered for the full training will receive a full refund.
Posted/last updated - August 6, 2025