---
title: "Susan Owens | KnowJudges"
canonical: "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/susan-owens-5992"
page_type: "judge_profile"
updated: "2026-10-07"
---

# Susan Owens

Supreme Court of Washington · Judge

## Profile

- Court: Supreme Court of Washington
- State: Washington
- Role: Judge
- Service status: former
- Last verified: 2026-08-22

## Summary

Official statewide and applicable court procedural guidance applies to this judge.

## 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

## Before you appear

- Read the judge-specific standing order first when one is listed.
- Check the docket and case orders for requirements that supersede broader guidance.
- Confirm current remote-access and courtroom technology arrangements before the proceeding.

## Courtroom Rules

### photography recording

Scope: 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.

Evidence excerpt: 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 judge

[Washington GR 16, Courtroom Photography and Recording by the News Media](https://www.courts.wa.gov/court_rules/pdf/GR/GA_GR_16_00_00.pdf)
Source checked: 2026-07-26

### limitations on recording

Scope: statewide

If a Washington judge limits courtroom photography or recording, GR 16 requires particularized findings on the record and treats open access as presumed.

Evidence excerpt: Open access is presumed; limitations on access must be supported by reasons found by the judge to be sufficiently compelling to outweigh that presumption

[Washington GR 16, Courtroom Photography and Recording by the News Media](https://www.courts.wa.gov/court_rules/pdf/GR/GA_GR_16_00_00.pdf)
Source checked: 2026-07-26


## Sources

- [Official profile](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/5992/susan-owens/)
- [Official roster](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/5992/susan-owens/)
- [Washington Supreme Court current judicial profile](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/5992/susan-owens/)
- [Washington GR 16, Courtroom Photography and Recording by the News Media](https://www.courts.wa.gov/court_rules/pdf/GR/GA_GR_16_00_00.pdf)
- [CourtListener judicial biographical directory](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/5992/susan-owens/)
- [Washington State Courts - Supreme Court Bios - Justice Susan Owens](https://www.courts.wa.gov/appellate_trial_courts/supreme/bios?fa=scbios.display_file&fileID=owens)
- [Susan Owens - Ballotpedia](https://ballotpedia.org/Susan_Owens#:~:text=7%20Footnotes-,Biography,Tribe%20for%20over%20six%20years.)
- [Wikidata: Susan Owens](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7648259)

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