Interviews set for district court judge candidates

EPHRATA — Grant County commissioners will interview five candidates for two open Grant County District Court positions Wednesday.

Interviews begin at 10 a.m. in the commission hearing room at the Grant County Courthouse, 35 C St. NW, in Ephrata. Each interview is scheduled to last about an hour.

Candidates are Brian Gwinn, of Moses Lake; Nicholas Wallace, of Ephrata; Kenneth Chadwick, of Ephrata; Anna Gigliotti, of Ephrata; and Patrick Earl, of Moses Lake.

The interviews will be conducted in a public session, but only the commissioners are allowed to ask questions.

After the interviews, commissioners will go into executive session to discuss the candidates, and commissioner Danny Stone said their choices could be announced at the end of the session. But that’s not required, and commissioners can wait to announce their selections.

One of the two positions became available in late April, when former GCDC judge Tyson Hill was appointed to the Grant County Superior Court bench. The second job opened when current presiding judge Janis Whitener-Moberg announced in May she planned to retire, effective Aug. 31.

The judge replacing Hill would start immediately. Whitener-Moberg’s replacement will start Sept. 1.

Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at cschweizer@columbiabasinherald.com.