Colleagues honor longtime Snohomish County judge after surprise retirement
Published 1:33 pm Sunday, August 23, 2026
EVERETT — A month-and-a-half after stepping down from the bench, Judge Marybeth Dingledy held court over dozens of her colleagues one final time on Thursday afternoon.
A room full of Snohomish County’s best legal minds gathered to recognize the dedication and diligence of the longtime judge and public defender during a celebration at the Superior Courthouse in Everett.
Dingledy spent 30 years serving the local judicial system, including the final 14 years of her career as a Superior Court judge after being appointed by former Gov. Christine Gregoire in January 2012.
“I got really lucky when I was appointed by the governor,” Dingledy told her colleagues in a brief speech. “I hope that I leave a legacy of being kind to people, because people when coming into courthouses, they really are afraid of judges. Most people around here, we’re just normal people. We just do the best we can.”
Dingledy retired her robes and put down her gavel at the end of June.
It was an unplanned exit, hastened by an unexpected diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease.
Dingledy said she doesn’t see the symptoms in herself, but she wasn’t willing to take the risk.
“My job is really important and I don’t want to screw someone’s life up,” she told The Daily Herald on Thursday.
The noble decision has given the judge more time to tend her garden and walk the dog, but her quick exit also left decades of reverent colleagues without the chance to wish Dingledy a proper goodbye.
On Thursday, they delivered the send-off she deserved, swapping stories about Dingledy’s time as a defense attorney with the Snohomish County’s Public Defender’s Association and her sound decision-making on the bench.
“At a couple of different times, I probably would have quit and not been a lawyer anymore, but for her,” said Superior Court Judge William Steffener, who described Dingledy as both his mentor and matchmaker, crediting her with keeping him in law and also connecting him with his wife of 15 years. “Your compassion and your empathy for everyone, but also for me, was what got me through.”
Former Superior Court Judge Janice Ellis recalled sharing a judicial chamber with Dingledy. She reminisced on unmentionable shenanigans, as well as also the jurists devotion to her passions outside of work, including training to climb Denali.
“When we say that she is a tenacious human being, like, we say that with capital letters and all underlined,” Ellis said.
She recalled Dingledy’s perseverance as she planned to climb one of the world’s tallest mountains, while also presiding over cases in court.
“Never has there been someone with more focus and determination than Marybeth,” Ellis said.
Gov. Bob Ferguson appointed Jehiel Baer to fill Dingledy’s seat on July 17. Baer most recently worked as a criminal prosecutor for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Western District of Washington.
Dingledy spent much of Thursday’s celebration with misty eyes, still processing the end of a career cut short.
Instead of feeling sorry for herself, Dingledy said she’s making travel plans. First, Indonesia followed by a trip to southeastern Europe.
As she treks the globe, Dingledy said she wants her legacy in Snohomish County to be one of objectivity and redemption.
“I hope that I was firm and fair,” she said. “I do think that people do have opportunities to make changes and I really do think that’s important. People aren’t always the same.”
Ian Davis-Leonard: 425-339-3097; ian.davis-leonard@heraldnet.com
