Sarah Cuellar (Ferry County District Court, Washington, candidate 2024)
From Ballotpedia
Sarah Cuellar ran for election for judge of the Ferry County District Court in Washington. She was on the ballot in the general election on November 5, 2024.[source]
Cuellar completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.
[1]Biography
Sarah Cuellar provided the following biographical information via Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey on October 14, 2024:
- Birth place: Boise, Idaho
- High school: Eagle High School (did not graduate, but obtained my GED when I was 16)
- Bachelor's: Boise State University, 2007
- J.D.: Gonzaga School of Law, 2013
- Gender: Female
- Profession: Attorney
- Incumbent officeholder: No
- Campaign Facebook
Elections
General election
General election for Ferry County District Court
Sarah Cuellar and Nick Force ran in the general election for Ferry County District Court on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | ||
 | Sarah Cuellar (Nonpartisan)  | |
| Nick Force (Nonpartisan) | ||
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| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Election results
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Cuellar in this election.
Campaign themes
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Sarah Cuellar completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Cuellar's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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I am a resident of Ferry County and qualified to serve as its District Court Judge. I am a wife, mother of three, and attorney who has operated my own law practice for 10 years, the last 5 being in Ferry County. From my office on the main street in Republic, I have had the opportunity to help many of my friends and neighbors as their attorney. Now, I’d like to serve as our judicial officer for Ferry County District Court.
- Service to others is one of my core values. I strive to practice it every day: by volunteering in my community and by helping the people and businesses of Ferry County with their legal matters. A judge is also a public servant, whose job is to administer justice fairly, without bias, and with respect to all parties. This job isn’t a steppingstone for me, but an opportunity for me to serve my community by operating an effective and efficient court.
- I have seen and experienced the pain and anger that drug addiction, and the crime that comes with it, inflicts on our friends and family in Ferry County. A well-organized drug court can help defendants address their addictions with the goal of stopping any further criminal conduct. Operating a therapeutic court requires cooperation from many people: the Prosecutor’s Office, the Sheriff’s Office, the jail’s Corrections Officers, and our County Commissioners. Having lived and worked here in Ferry County for five years, I have developed professional relationships with each of these offices and can use my personal connections and legal experience in deal-making and negotiation to bring drug court back to our community.
- I will operate the District Court efficiently to free up funds for things our county desperately needs, like law enforcement officers. As a private business owner, I know how to stick to a budget. I won’t treat district court like my own piggy bank, and I won’t ever make a decision without fully considering what effect it will have on you, the taxpayers who fund our government. My law office practices civil law, whereas the district court oversees primarily criminal misdemeanors. This means that I will have very few conflicts of interest between myself and the defendants and we, the taxpayers, can stop spending money on substitute judges to cover the cases our current judge (and former prosecutor) can’t preside over.
I strongly believe in equality before the law. Our constitution was written by the descendants of persons who suffered from discriminatory treatment by their government. Our government, for the people and by the people, needs to treat those people with the same respect regardless of whether they can afford an attorney, suffer from addiction, or believe the same things that their neighbors do. Discrimination and disrespect should not be tolerated in our courtroom and, if elected, I will do my best to ensure all people, regardless of wealth, education, or politics, have equal access to the justice they deserve.
The Washington State Judicial Cannons state that a judge’s role is to conduct her- or himself at all times in a manner that preserves the independence, integrity, and impartiality of the judiciary. For me, this means that a judge should take care that her words and actions do not unintentionally convey bias or disrespect to any party. In reality, it is important for a judge to also possess understanding of the many challenges that exist to accessing justice in our system and to preside over her courtroom in a way that acknowledges and accommodates those challenges. For example, sometimes a simple explanation of a convoluted court rule can help a person comply with the rule. A party may need additional time to respond if they do not have internet access at their home. Remote appearances may be better in the winter or for parties without safe and reliable transportation. A judge should also be honest about their qualifications for the office, including where they live, and their legal experience.
My first paying job was at Baskin Robbins when I was 14. I made $4.25 an hour and kept the job for four months, when the manager put me on the schedule during school hours, I didn't show up for my shift, and she fired me. I got a job at Taco Bell right after that, making six whole dollars an hour (a lot for a high school student when gas was only $1/gallon), and kept that job for over a year before moving on to Flying Pie Pizzeria in Boise, a job that came with much better shift meals. I worked one or more jobs to support myself until I enrolled at Gonzaga School of Law and was unemployed for the first time since I was 14 because first year law students weren't allowed to work. I got a job as a legal assistant as soon as I was allowed to, the summer after my first year, and have worked in law ever since. I do miss the free pizza, though.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
See also
2024 Elections
External links
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Candidate Ferry County District Court |
Footnotes
