Judicial Questionnaire – 2026 Revision
Candidate Info
Candidate Name: Sven Nelson
Position Sought: Pierce County District Court Judge, Position 8
Are you an incumbent for this position? Non-incumbent
Home Legislative District: 28
Campaign Info
Campaign Manager or Point of Contact: Karen Nelson Email: info@svennelsonforjudge.com Phone: 253-507-2107 Nathan Winch Email: nathan@progressivestrategiesnw.com Phone: 1-301-219-9033
List social media sites: Website: https://svennelsonforjudge.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61589360428738 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nelsonforjudge/
Part I – Candidate Background
1. Please describe your qualifications, education, employment, past community and civic activity, as well as any other relevant experience.
I have served Pierce County for nearly 30 years as a deputy prosecuting attorney. My work has included serious cases involving sexual assault, child abuse, elder abuse, homicide, identity theft, property crimes, and crimes against vulnerable people. I have also served as Team Chief of the Special Assault Unit, Elder Abuse Unit, and Property Crimes Unit.
Since 2019, I have served as a Judge Pro Tempore, presiding over criminal and civil matters including arraignments, motions, sentencing hearings, jury trials, and community court proceedings. That experience has confirmed for me how much a judge’s temperament matters. People may come into court scared, angry, confused, or overwhelmed. The judge still has to be prepared, patient, fair, and clear.
I earned my undergraduate degree from Pacific Lutheran University and my law degree from Willamette University College of Law. I am an elected Trustee of the Tacoma-Pierce County Bar Association, a board member of the Washington Council of Police and Sheriffs, and a former Board President and Treasurer of Rebuilding Hope, the Pierce County Sexual Assault Center. I have taught community classes on elder abuse, volunteered with Habitat for Humanity, and been involved for many years at University Place Presbyterian Church.
2. What prompted you to run for this office?
I am running because I believe District Court deserves experience, fairness, and a steady hand.
District Court is often where people first encounter the justice system. The cases may involve criminal charges, protection orders, civil disputes, traffic matters, addiction, mental health issues, housing instability, or other difficult circumstances. For many people, that courtroom experience shapes how they see the justice system as a whole.
I have spent nearly three decades in Pierce County courtrooms, and I have also served hundreds of hours on the bench as a Judge Pro Tempore. I enjoy the work of judging: listening carefully, preparing well, applying the law, and treating people with dignity. I am running because I would like to do that work full time.
3. What do you believe are the most important qualifications for a judge or justice?
A judge needs legal experience, integrity, patience, and sound judgment. Just as important, a judge needs the temperament to stay fair and even-tempered when the courtroom is tense or emotional.
The decision has to come from the facts, the law, and the record. It cannot come from politics, public pressure, personal preference, or assumptions about the people in front of the court.
A good judge also understands the practical effect of court decisions. In District Court, a ruling can affect someone’s job, housing, family responsibilities, safety, or ability to move forward. That does not mean the judge ignores accountability. It means discretion has to be used carefully.
4. What priorities are you seeking to address with your campaign?
My campaign is focused on experience, fairness, and public trust.
I want voters to understand the importance of District Court. It is the court many people are most likely to encounter, and it handles cases that matter deeply to people’s daily lives.
I am also emphasizing fairness to everyone who enters the courtroom. Victims, defendants, witnesses, attorneys, court staff, and members of the public all deserve to be treated with dignity and respect.
Finally, I want to help maintain trust in the court. Courts earn trust through preparation, consistency, transparency, timely work, and independence from outside pressure.
5. What is the code of conduct for your campaign?
As a judicial candidate, I have to follow the rules that apply to judicial elections. I cannot promise outcomes, suggest how I would rule in future cases, or take positions that would compromise my independence or impartiality.
Those rules are not just technical requirements. They protect the people who may come before the court. Every person deserves a judge who has not already made up his mind.
My campaign will focus on my qualifications, experience, temperament, and readiness for the bench. I will be honest about my record and respectful in how I campaign. The same standards I believe matter in court should guide the campaign: integrity, fairness, accountability, respect, and independence.
Part II – Access to Justice
1. If elected, how will you work to improve access to justice, particularly for communities and constituencies that do not understand the American legal system?
Access to justice starts with whether people can understand and participate in the process. Many people come to District Court with little or no experience in the legal system. Some face language barriers, transportation problems, disabilities, work schedules, childcare needs, or fear based on past experiences.
A judge cannot fix every barrier from the bench, but a judge can make the courtroom clearer and more respectful. I would work to explain the process plainly when appropriate, make sure interpreter and accommodation needs are addressed, use remote options when they are allowed and appropriate, and pay attention to whether people understand what is being required of them. People should not have to be lawyers to know what is happening in their own case.
2. Is Washington relying too much on court fees to cover the cost of operating our judicial system? How do you believe our courts should be funded?
Courts are a core function of government, and they should be funded in a stable and transparent way.
The courts that I have worked in have taken great strides in addressing this concern. Many people in District Court already have limited resources. If fines and fees are imposed without attention to ability to pay, they can make it harder for someone to keep a job, maintain housing, support a family, or comply with court obligations.
Accountability is important but it needs to be balanced with other goals as well. The basic operation of the courts should not depend on creating deeper financial instability for people who are already struggling. As a judge, I would apply the law and use discretion where the law allows. As a system, courts should be funded through regular public budgeting that recognizes courts as essential to justice, public safety, and public trust.
3. Would you, if elected, bring restorative justice as a goal to your court room? If yes, describe how that could look.
Restorative justice can be useful when it is lawful, appropriate to the case, and respectful of the people who were harmed. It should not be used as a slogan, and it should never minimize accountability or pressure victims.
In the right cases, though, the court should be open to approaches that help people understand harm, take responsibility, repair what can be repaired, and reduce the chance that they return to court.
In District Court, that may include community court models, treatment-focused options, compliance reviews, restitution where appropriate, and conditions that connect accountability with stability and rehabilitation. The details depend on the law, the facts, victim input, public safety, available programs, and the person before the court.
My view is practical: accountability and rehabilitation are not opposites. When the law gives a judge options, the question is which lawful option is fair, meaningful, and most likely to reduce future harm.
4. What ideas can you offer to make our judicial system more open, transparent, and responsive?
more transparent court is one people can understand. That includes clear notices, plain-language instructions, reliable interpreter access, accessible information about procedures, and appropriate remote appearance options.
The court also has to respect people’s time. Confusing instructions, unnecessary delays, and repeated appearances can make it harder for people to keep jobs, arrange transportation, find childcare, or comply with what the court is asking them to do.
Judges can help by being prepared, starting on time, explaining rulings clearly, treating court staff and court users respectfully, and making timely decisions. These are not dramatic reforms, but they matter. A courtroom that is organized, respectful, and clear is more accessible to everyone.
5. What are your thoughts on how our courts could permanently incorporate virtual options for court hearings?
Virtual options should remain part of the court system where they improve access without undermining fairness, public safety, or the rights of the parties.
Remote appearances can make a real difference for people with transportation barriers, childcare responsibilities, work obligations, disabilities, health concerns, or long travel distances. They can also reduce unnecessary delay for routine matters.
At the same time, not every hearing should be virtual. Some proceedings need to be in person because of witness testimony, evidence, victim participation, constitutional rights, safety concerns, or the seriousness of what is at stake.
The best approach is a thoughtful hybrid system. Keep the access gains where remote hearings work well, but be careful that convenience does not come at the expense of a full and fair process.
6. Justice delayed is justice denied, what are your thoughts on how to catch up on the current backlog of cases awaiting trail? Additionally what changes to the current court system would you implement to ensure speedy justice?
Backlogs hurt everyone. Victims wait for resolution. Defendants wait for their cases to be heard. Witnesses move, memories fade, attorneys and court staff carry heavier calendars, and the public loses confidence that the system can respond in a timely way. The good news is that District Court backlogs are much less than Superior Court backlogs in Pierce County.
There is no single fix. Courts need active case management, realistic trial scheduling, enough judges and staff to handle the workload, and good communication among justice partners. Courts should also use pretrial conferences, appropriate diversion or treatment options, technology, and settlement discussions in civil matters where they can reduce delay without sacrificing fairness.
As a judge, I would be prepared, manage the calendar carefully, avoid unnecessary continuances, start on time, and make timely rulings. Speed matters, but it cannot come at the expense of due process. The goal is a courtroom that moves cases responsibly and fairly.
7. What judicial reforms do you support to achieve greater equity and inclusion for BIPOC individuals in our communities?
Judges have to be careful not to promise outcomes or suggest how they would rule in future cases. Within that boundary, I believe courts have a responsibility to make sure every person is treated fairly, respectfully, and without bias.
Some reforms are very practical: reliable interpreter access, disability accommodations, plain-language communication, awareness of implicit bias, responsible use of court data, and reducing unnecessary financial barriers. Courts should also pay attention to the real-world barriers people face, including poverty, transportation, work schedules, childcare, lack of counsel, language access, and distrust of the system based on personal or community experience.
Equity in the courts does not mean favoring one side. It means making sure the process is fair, understandable, and dignified for every person, including BIPOC individuals and communities that have not always experienced the justice system that way.
By typing my name below, I declare under penalty of perjury the foregoing is true and correct.
Printed Name: Sven Nelson
Date: 05/28/2026
