Office of the Presiding Judge
King County District Court
W-1034 King County Courthouse
Seattle, WA 98104
Phone: 206-205-9200
Fax: 206-296-0596
kcdc.webmaster
@kingcounty.gov

Judge Janet GarrowJudge Garrow

Judge Garrow was elected to the King County District Court in 1998 and re-elected in 2002, 2006 and 2010. She has served several terms as the Presiding Judge of the District Court’s East Division and as a member of the Court’s Executive Committee. Her judicial duties have included working as a portability judge for King County Superior Court and serving as an inquest judge. Judge Garrow hears criminal and civil cases on a daily basis and is committed to the philosophy that all cases should be handled fairly, with respect for all participants, and efficiently.

Judge Garrow serves as an elected member of the Washington state Board for Judicial Administration. She chairs the District and Municipal Court Judges Association Rules Committee and serves on the District Court Budget Committee. She has a passion for judicial education, having served as dean and faculty for the Washington Judicial College, as a member of the Board for Court Education, and as faculty for the District Court’s pro tem judge training program. She participates as a judge in student moot court programs.

Prior to her election to the bench, Judge Garrow was a principal with Cairncross & Hempelmann, P.S. in Seattle, practicing in the areas of land use, environmental law, forest practices and civil litigation. She worked as an Assistant Director/Land Use Manager and Assistant City Attorney for the City of Bellevue, and began law practice as a public defender in Seattle.

Judge Garrow received her BA degree in psychology from Marquette University, a MS degree in counseling and personnel services from Purdue University, and a JD degree from the University of Puget Sound School of Law.

For many years Judge Garrow has been an active volunteer in her community. Those activities included teaching English as a second language, chair of the Bellevue Human Services Commission, president of the Eastside Domestic Violence Program board of directors, and mediator with the Bellevue Neighborhood Mediation Program. She resides in Bellevue with her family.