Members of the Clark County Bar Association chose criminal defense attorney Sean Downs as their pick to fill Judge Scott Collier’s seat on the Clark County Superior Court bench, according to recent poll results.
Downs, 42, of Camas, is one of five people seeking the Department 10 seat when Collier retires June 30. The other candidates are:
- Defense attorney Louis Byrd Jr., 64, of Vancouver
- Assistant Attorney General Tsering Cornell, 40, of Vancouver
- Vancouver Assistant Attorney Dan Lloyd, 43, of Camas
- Clark County Senior Deputy Prosecutor Kasey Vu, 53, of Woodland
Each of the candidates have previously applied for Superior Court vacancies. Although Gov. Jay Inslee’s office did not receive any new applicants for the Department 10 opening, spokeswoman Ayanna Pope said that is not unusual when there are multiple vacancies in a short period. Since 2019, there have been three vacancies, as well as the creation of Department 11.
The poll results show 30 percent, or 51, of the 166 respondents chose Downs as their choice for the seat. Vu was the runner-up with 24 percent, or 40, of the votes. Twenty-one percent of respondents chose Lloyd, followed by 10 percent for Cornell and 5 percent for Byrd.
Downs scored highest in all poll categories, except one: diversity, equity and inclusion. Vu received two more votes in that category — 45 to Downs’ 43. Downs was the first choice in the categories of relevant legal experience (45 votes), integrity (47), temperament (53) and legal ability (44).
Downs was admitted to the Washington State Bar Association in 2008 and is a partner at the Grecco Downs law firm, where he represents indigent defendants, according to his application for the vacancy. He has been the president of the Criminal Defense Attorneys of Clark County, and he noted his work on drug possession cases impacted by the Washington Supreme Court’s ruling in State v. Blake.
Vu has been a member of the Clark County legal community for 20 years, his application states. He is a prosecutor in the Clark County Children’s Justice Center. He has served as a supervisor in multiple departments in the prosecutor’s office, including the Major Crimes Unit and Elder Justice Center.
Lloyd has been an assistant city attorney for Vancouver since 2013 and from 2007 to 2011. He also serves as a pro tem commissioner in Clark County Superior Court. (A pro tem serves in the absence or disability of the elected or appointed judge or commissioner of the court.)
Since 2018, Cornell has worked for the Washington State Attorney General’s Office in Vancouver, where she represents the state in child welfare cases. She noted in her application that she helped create training for the local legal community called “Interrupting Bias” — stemming from former Clark County District Court Judge Darvin Zimmerman’s disparaging comments about a young Black man killed by deputies and his family.
Byrd has been a private practice defense attorney since 1994. Prior to working in private practice, Byrd was at the Washington State Attorney General’s Office, where he worked in the corrections division, labor and industries and the Department of Social and Health Services.
Collier was appointed to the Superior Court bench in 2008. He was reelected in 2020 to a term that expires in 2024.
The appointee would need to file for candidacy in May 2023. Depending on the number of candidates, they would either appear on the primary ballot, go directly to the general election or, if no one else runs, be deemed elected for the two-year unexpired term.
Superior Court judges currently make $16,340 per month but that will increase to $16,931 per month effective July 1, according to the county website.
The preference poll is one factor Inslee will consider in vetting the candidates.
