Superior Court Judge Harper announces retirement

Posted

Jefferson County Superior Court Judge Keith Harper will step down from the bench in January.

Harper announced his resignation in an Oct. 14 letter to Gov. Jay Inslee.

In the letter, Harper said he wanted to retire, effective Jan. 31.

“When I last ran for re-election in 2020, I fully expected to complete this term,” the judge said in his letter to the governor.

“However, for a number of reasons, I have decided that now is the time for me to be done,” Harper added. “I anticipate a smooth transition to my successor.”

Harper was in the middle of his third term as Jefferson County’s sole superior court judge.

Harper was first elected in 2012, and emerged from a three-way primary contest to defeat Peggy Ann Bierbaum in that year’s general election.

During his next two campaigns, in 2016 and 2020, he ran unopposed.

“Since being elected in 2012, I have thoroughly enjoyed serving in this position,” Harper wrote in his retirement letter. “It has been challenging and fulfilling. I have tried to work hard to do a good job. I have had the pleasure of meeting and developing relationships with many other judges and justices from all around the state.”

Harper was a court commissioner before his election to Jefferson County Superior Court Judge.

He took the gavel from Judge Craddock Verser, who decided against seeking a third term and retired due to medical reasons.

Harper become the fourth Jefferson County Superior Court judge since 1982, when Jefferson stopped sharing a judge with Clallam County.