Seasoned attorney, judicial officer tapped to handle case load at municipal court

The Auburn Municipal Court appointed Anne C. Harper as court commissioner, becoming the second full-time judicial officer of the court.

Harper has been a trial advocacy instructor at University of Washington School of Law since 1998.

In addition to an extensive experience as a civil and a criminal trial attorney, Harper has previous judicial experience as a court commissioner in King County District Court and a special master in King County Superior Court.

“The City of Auburn is very fortunate to have judicial officer of the experience and caliber of Judge Harper,” said Presiding Judge Patrick Burns.

Cases filed with the court between 2002 and 2007 nearly have doubled with the recent annexations and

thus necessitated the appointment

of a second commissioner.

Harper’s duties will entail operating the court by managing cases

that have been filed, conducting hearings and imposing appropriate sanctions.

In the Auburn Municipal Court,

that includes hearing cases that involve criminal law violations

such as DUI, domestic violence

charges, theft and drug offenses,

as well as traffic and parking

infractions.

Types of hearings also include a daily calendar dealing with people who have been arrested and

taken to jail.

The average daily population

in the Auburn jail fluctuates

between 110 and 140 people.

Harper and her husband, Marc,

have a 14-year-old daughter.