Judicial Questionnaire – 2026 Revision
Candidate Info
Candidate Name: Doris Walkins
Position Sought: Pierce County Superior Court Judge Dept 17
Are you an incumbent for this position? Incumbent
Home Legislative District: 29th
Campaign Info
Campaign Manager or Point of Contact: Doris Walkins (Argo if Challenged)
List social media sites: Retainjudgewalkins.com
Part I – Candidate Background
1. Please describe your qualifications, education, employment, past community and civic activity, as well as any other relevant experience.
I was appointed to the Pierce County Superior Court by Gov. Ferguson in Feb 2026; prior to that I was a Pierce County Superior Court Commissioner for close to four years; in that time I presided over dockets of all case types in the downtown court and juvenile court at Remann Hall. I spent 16 years as a general practice attorney, and 14 years as a Title 26 guardian ad litem doing parenting investigations for high conflict cases. Prior to graduating law school, I spent 5 years as an advocate for survivors of domestic violence at the YWCA, Tacoma-Pierce County. I received Jurist of the Year, Community Service Award from the TPCBA in 2025.
I’ve been rated exceptionally well qualified by multiple bar associations, including TPCBA and PCMBA.
2. What prompted you to run for this office?
I was appoint it’s by Governor Ferguson and while I don’t know if any challengers yet, I am preparing myself for that possibility come filing week. I ran in 2024 for Dept 9, and while I did not prevail, I garnered close to 168k votes on a shoestring budget. I believe I am a viable and formidable candidate if I am challenged for my seat.
3. What do you believe are the most important qualifications for a judge or justice?
Fairness, thoughtfulness, measured, empathetic to a point and flexibility in the way you manage your courtroom and litigants. A great judge is one who keeps in mind the circumstances of the parties before them and runs an orderly courtroom, follows the law, all while being in community with those coming before you. We are not kings and queens, we are servants of the public, helping them navigate resolutions in our justice system.
4. What priorities are you seeking to address with your campaign?
Access to justice, fairness in hearings and transparency in court process.
5. What is the code of conduct for your campaign?
Honesty, grit, perseverance and integrity at all times. No campaign can be viable without those things, along with an excellent treasurer.
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?
I believe in explaining my rulings in a plain language, understandable manner so that even when the lawyers with the law degrees are out of the picture, the clients directly impacted and affected by those orders, can read and understand them. Making legalese more accessible is an access to justice issue. I’m also still a huge advocate for remedial interventions in lieu of incarceration where appropriate; a rehabilitated returning member of our community is much less likely to become a recidivist statistic, if they receive meaningful services to address the underlying conditions that led to them coming before me.
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?
Our courts should be funded by our tax payers as part of the commons, generally speaking. I do believe there is a place for legal financial sanctions as a means of restoring the court for resources expended due to a defendant being found to have broken the law, but poverty is also a huge factor; the approach needs to be thoughtfully measured.
3. Would you, if elected, bring restorative justice as a goal to your court room? If yes, describe how that could look.
Yes; I believe that where safe and appropriate defendant/respondents should be afforded a path back to full participation in society; a big part of that is rehabilitation to help avoid recidivism, providing meaningful services to litigants and a framework to return to society as a productive member. This can be done while still holding them accountable to the harms they’ve caused their victim and the greater community; with all things, there’s a measured balance to be struck.
4. What ideas can you offer to make our judicial system more open, transparent, and responsive?
Citizens taking advantage of our open courts. I highly encourage the community to come observe the dockets. You will get to see for yourself how judge’s conduct themselves, how the court runs and how parties are treated in court. Also, community engagement so that the community has opportunities to meet and get to know their judicial officers.
5. What are your thoughts on how our courts could permanently incorporate virtual options for court hearings?
Pierce County has largely implemented permanent use of zoom in our courts, for most superior court hearings. This was implemented during COVID and has stayed on as a viable access to justice tool.
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?
The best way to catch up is to take on trials and facilitate their efficient resolution, so that I can take on the next case. Another way is settlement conferences to try to eliminate or at least mitigate the need for a trial/lengthy trial by trying to get resolution at the pre trial stage.
7. What judicial reforms do you support to achieve greater equity and inclusion for BIPOC individuals in our communities?
A stronger, broader, school to law school to legal profession pipeline; BIPOC students need to know it’s possible and people like me can be representative of that possibility. Law students, lawyers, commissioners, judges who are BIPOC must get out into the community and recruit the next generation.
By typing my name below, I declare under penalty of perjury the foregoing is true and correct.
Printed Name: Doris Walkins
Date: 03292026
