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Dean Chuang appointed as 13th Spokane County Superior Court Judge

Dean Tze-Ming Chuang was appointed to the newly created 13th judgeship in Spokane County Superior Court on Thursday by Gov. Jay Inslee. (Courtesy)
By Emma Epperly emmae@spokesman.com(509) 459-5122
Dean Tze-Ming Chuang was appointed to the newly created 13th judgeship in Spokane County Superior Court on Thursday by Gov. Jay Inslee. (Courtesy)

Dean Tze-Ming Chuang will be the next Spokane County Superior Court judge, Gov. Jay Inslee announced Thursday.

Chuang will fill the recently created 13th judgeship starting on Jan. 8.

“Dean Chuang is well respected and well prepared to serve the Spokane County community in this role,” Inslee said in a prepared statement. “I’m pleased that he will bring his work ethic, courage and skills to the Spokane County Superior Court bench.”

Chuang is a partner at Crary, Chuang & Domanico, P.S. in Spokane Valley where he primarily handles personal injury, general litigation and criminal defense cases, according to an Inslee news release. He began as an associate at the firm in 2008, becoming a partner in 2011. He was a public defender in Benton County, according to his website. Chuang serves on the advisory committee to the Office of Public Defense. He does pro bono legal work for the Housing Justice Project, and coaches mock trial for local youths.

He is an Army veteran and remains in the U.S. Army Reserve, according to the news release. He served in Syria and northern Iraq after being activated from 2019 to 2020.

Chuang has bachelor’s degrees from Whitman College and the University of Washington. He received his law degree from Gonzaga University in 2006.

Chaung joins a court full of new appointees with half of the judges having been appointed in the past five years. Judges Breean Beggs, Jeremy Schmidt, Marla Polin and Jacquelyn High-Edwards have all been appointed since 2022.

The 13th judgeship is the “first step” for the court to address severe understaffing in the court, Julie McKay, presiding judge, said earlier this year.

Space remains an issue in the courthouse with an office being converted into a small courtroom to handle first appearances.

“The courtroom is not anywhere close to what we need,” McKay said. “We would have plenty of work for a 13th judge to do even if I had to put them in a conference room and just hand them paperwork to review. We have so much.”