Susan Owens at a glance
- Current role
- Former Judge
- Jurisdiction
- Washington · State
- Judicial service
- Former
Susan Owens
Former Judge · Supreme Court of Washington
Biography
Professional career
- Judge, Washington Supreme Court, 2001-present
- Justice Owens died March 28, 2025 in California at age 75
- Susan Owens (1949 – 2025) was an American judge and Associate Justice of the Washington State Supreme Court from 2001 until her retirement in 2024, and the seventh woman to serve on that court
- Colleagues described her as “a true original” with “wit, humor, and a strong sense of justice”
- In summary: Susan Owens was a trailblazing jurist whose career spanned rural, tribal, and state-level justice, with a lasting legacy in judicial education and advocacy for vulnerable communities
Education
- Juris Doctor — University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Additional information
- Served until the mandatory retirement age of 75, retiring in December 2024.
- In 2000, she was elected to the Washington State Supreme Court, becoming the seventh woman on the bench.
- Began her judicial service in 1981 as the first woman on the Clallam County District Court, serving 19 years and earning six elected terms.
- She was admitted to the Oregon State Bar in 1975 and the Washington State Bar in 1976.
- Susan Owens was born August 19, 1949 in Kinston, North Carolina, and grew up there before attending Duke University (BA, 1971) and the University of North Carolina School of Law (JD, 1975).
- Date of birth: 1949-08-19
- Also Chief Judge of the Quileute Tribe for five years and Chief Judge of the Lower Elwha S’Klallam Tribe for over six years.
- Domestic violence judicial education — national trainer, co‐author of the Northwest Tribal Judges Domestic Violence Manual, and lecturer at the National College of Prosecuting Attorneys’ Domestic Violence Conference.
- The Washington Supreme Court is planning a memorial in her honor.
- She was the mother of two children, grandmother of five, and enjoyed baseball, Olympic National Park, and the West End of Clallam County.
- Birth place: Kinston
Applicable Court Rules & Procedures
Recording and broadcasting
Statewide
Washington GR 16 allows video recording, audio recording, and still photography by the news media in courtrooms only after the judge has expressly granted permission.
Video and audio recording and still photography by the news media are allowed in the courtroom during and between sessions, provided (1) that permission shall have first been expressly granted by the judgeWashington GR 16, Courtroom Photography and Recording by the News Media ↗
Statewide
If a Washington judge limits courtroom photography or recording, GR 16 requires particularized findings on the record and treats open access as presumed.
Open access is presumed; limitations on access must be supported by reasons found by the judge to be sufficiently compelling to outweigh that presumptionWashington GR 16, Courtroom Photography and Recording by the News Media ↗
Sources
Identity source checked August 22, 2026.
Biography sources checked October 11, 2026.
Washington Supreme Court current judicial profile
Identity source · HTML · Source checked August 22, 2026
View Washington Supreme Court current judicial profile ↗Washington GR 16, Courtroom Photography and Recording by the News Media
Statewide source · PDF · Source checked July 26, 2026
View Washington GR 16, Courtroom Photography and Recording by the News Media ↗