Gov. Jay Inslee appointed Edirin Okoloko to the Snohomish County Superior Court today. He replaces Judge Linda C. Krese, who is retiring.
The governor previously appointed Okoloko to the Snohomish County Superior Court in September 2018 and he took office in October. He lost a close retention election in November 2019.
Prior to his judicial service, Okoloko served for 13 years as a Snohomish County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney, where he prosecuted cases involving homicides, sexual assaults, child abuse, elder abuse, and other violent and property related crimes. He also represented the office on the Snohomish County Multiple Agency Response Team, which investigates county wide incidents involving law enforcement use of lethal force.
Before working as a prosecutor, Okoloko served as a judicial law clerk for former Snohomish County Superior Court Judge Michael Downes.
"For over a year, Edirin excelled on the bench and earned the respect of so many people in the Snohomish County Superior Court: his judicial benchmates, the court staff, and the litigants and attorneys who appeared before him," Inslee said. "He is not through serving his community, and I look forward to him continuing his service on the court for years to come."
Born in Nigeria, Okoloko received his law degree from the Seattle University School of Law and a Bachelor of Law from the University of Benin in Nigeria.