
Judge Mary Sue Wilson was appointed by Governor Jay Inslee to the Thurston County Superior Court and began serving as a superior court judge in October 2014. Judge Wilson presently serves as a trial judge at the court's main campus. In this assignment, she presides over civil and criminal jury and bench trials, hears civil motions, and presides over a variety of criminal and civil calendars.
Judge Wilson also presently serves as Presiding Judge of Thurston County Superior Court. In this role, she supervises the administration of the court's work.
Judge Wilson served at Thurston County Family and Juvenile Court from January 2018 until January 2021, including serving as Chief Judge from July 2019 through January 2021. While at Family and Juvenile Court, Judge Wilson presided over family law, juvenile, and dependency trials and presided over the weekly juvenile offender pretrial calendar. She participated in the court's Dependency Transformation project, which developed new court processes aimed at, among other goals, enhancing the court's trauma-informed practices.
Prior to her appointment, Judge Wilson served the people of the State of Washington for over two decades as an assistant attorney general. In this capacity she represented state agencies and state officials in state and federal trial and appeals courts on a range of statutory, constitutional, and environmental matters. She also served as chief counsel to three Washington State Department of Ecology directors and as a member of three Attorney's General leadership teams.
Judge Wilson graduated Summa Cum Laude from Gonzaga University School of Law in 1989. Following graduation she served as a judicial clerk to former Washington State Supreme Court Justice Robert Brachtenbach.
A native Washingtonian, Judge Wilson has resided in Thurston County for more than thirty years. Judge Wilson currently serves as a board member of the Thurston County Dispute Resolution Center and Thurston County Volunteer Legal Services. She previously served on local childcare and school boards, in leadership and youth ministry at her church, and on the Washington Women Lawyers Capitol Chapter board.
Judicial
Assistant: Kristine Maine - Email -
360-709-3052