About
Chief Justice Debra L. Stephens has dedicated her career to ensuring Washington’s courts work for everyone — and she has the record to prove it.
A Spokane native, Debra grew up with a deep appreciation for public service, volunteering in her school, church and community.. She earned both her undergraduate and law degrees from Gonzaga University, where she later taught constitutional law, community property, and appellate advocacy as an adjunct professor. Before taking the bench, she appeared as counsel more than 125 times before the Washington State Supreme Court and also advocated in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and the United States Supreme Court.
Appointed to the Washington State Supreme Court in 2008, Justice Stephens made history as the first woman from Eastern Washington — and the first judge from the Court of Appeals, Division Three — to serve on our state’s highest court. She has since been re-elected by Washington voters three times, and currently serves as Chief Justice, a position she also held in 2020–2021.
Throughout her tenure, Chief Justice Stephens has championed access to justice, judicial education, and the rule of law — working internationally with USAID to train judges on judicial independence, and earning recognition including the “Judge of the Year” award from the Washington State Association for Justice and the 2023 Rodel Judicial Fellowship. She also served for over a decade as a school board director, reflecting her lifelong investment in her community. She is a longtime Rotarian and volunteers for several organizations addressing youth services, food security, healthcare and civic engagement.
Debra and her husband have two grown children and a granddaughter. She enjoys tennis, pickleball, music and spending time with family on the Snake river below Hell’s Canyon.