Gigliotti named to Superior Court

EPHRATA — Gov. Jay Inslee announced Thursday the appointment of Grant County District Court commissioner Anna Gigliotti to the Grant County Superior Court.

Gigliotti said she will be the first woman to serve as a Grant County Superior Court judge. She will be sworn in Friday at the Grant County Courthouse, with a time to be announced.

She said her first day on the bench will be Nov. 1.

“I’m really looking forward to Superior Court,” she said.

She replaces David Estudillo, who was nominated by President Joe Biden for a seat in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington in May and confirmed by the U.S. Senate in September.

Gigliotti will serve out the remainder of the term, which expires in 2024.

“I’m looking forward to serving the citizens of Grant County,” Gigliotti said Friday.

She has served as GCDC commissioner since 2018. The district court commissioner has almost the same job as a district court judge, with the exception of jury trials, she said. The commissioner can preside over a jury trial, but both parties in the case must agree to their participation. The commissioner is appointed by the district court judges, rather than being an elected position.

“I really enjoy being on the bench,” Gigliotti said.

Superior Court judges preside over both civil and criminal cases.

Gigliotti will be one of three Superior Court judges. The others are John Knodell, who won re-election in 2020, and Tyson Hill, who was appointed to the court in April.

Before becoming court commissioner, Gigliotti was a deputy prosecutor for the Grant County Prosecutor’s Office, beginning in 2016. Prior to that, she was in private practice, and before that, she worked for the Whatcom County Prosecutor’s Office.