Chief Presiding Judge

Judge Barbara Linde

Judge Linde was elected to the position of King County District Court Judge, and began serving in January 1995. She presides over civil and criminal cases in the West Division, at the King County Courthouse in downtown Seattle. In the fall of 2006, Judge Linde was elected by the King County District Judges as Chief Presiding Judge. She will hold this position for two years.

Judge Linde has committed her time and energy to improving the court and making it more accessible and accountable to the community it serves. She served on King County Executive Ron Sims’s Mental Health Court Task Force, which worked to create the District Court’s highly regarded Mental Health Court. She was a leader in the creation of the District Court’s Domestic Violence Court. She was elected to, and served a three year term on the Board of Governors of the District and Municipal Court Judges Association. She also served on the Core Mission of the Courts subcommittee for the Commission on Justice, Efficiency and Accountability. Judge Linde was appointed and served on the Washington Commission for Jury Reform, an effort that resulted in many sweeping changes to the jury experience. Among these changes are new rights for jurors to take notes during all trials, and to submit written questions to witnesses in civil trials.

Judge Linde is the current Chair of the Trial Court Coordinating Council, a group comprised of judges and court professionals from Superior, District and Municipal courts in King County. The mission of this council is to explore and implement new ways to coordinate court services to better serve the community and better utilize limited resources. Judge Linde serves on the Regional Law, Safety and Justice Committee, a group with a similar mission, that includes members of law enforcement, city and county government leaders, health and human services providers, prosecutors and defense attorneys, in addition to judges and court professionals.

Judge Linde cares deeply about the public’s perception of, and confidence in, its justice system. As one of the judicial members of the Bench-Bar-Press Committee, she works with representatives of the media and the bar, to ensure that the right to a free press is protected, along with a defendant’s right to a fair trial. Judge Linde was appointed by Chief Justice Gerry Alexander to serve as the Bench-Bar-Press Committee liaison to the Washington Coalition for Open Government.

Judge Linde is a Seattle native and is active in the West Seattle Community where she lives with her husband and two children. She is a 1977 graduate of the University of Washington and a 1980 graduate of the Seattle University School of Law.