Kirstin Toynbee puts a judges robe over the shoulders of her husband, Andrew, after he was sworn in to be Lewis County's newest Superior Court Judge on Wednesday afternoon in Chehalis.
Lewis County Superior Court Judge Nelson Hunt, left, swears in the county's newest superior court judge, Andrew Toynbee, as his youngest daughter, Laurel, 10, holds the a copy of the New American Bible while his oldest daughter, Audrey, right-center, and his wife, Kirstin, look on during a ceremony at the Lewis County Law and Justice Center on Wednesday afternoon in Chehalis.
A packed court room looks on as newly sworn in Lewis County Superior Court Judge Andrew Toynbee speaks from the bench on Wednesday afternoon in Chehalis.
After presenting her father with a ceremony gavel, Audrey Toynbee, 12, gets a hug from her dad, Lewis County Superior Court Judge Andrew Toynbee, during a ceremony on Wednesday afternoon in Chehalis.
Newly sworn in Lewis County Superior Court Judge Andrew Toynbee speaks to a packed court room from the bench on Wednesday afternoon in Chehalis.
Laurel Toynbee, left, and her sister, Audrey, left-center, check with their father, newly elected Lewis County Superior Court Judge Andrew Toynbee, on the proper way to hold the bible that he would be sworn in with as his wife, Kirstin, right, looks on prior to the start of Toynbee's swearing in ceremony at the Lewis County Law and Justice Center in Chehalis on Wednesday afternoon.
Moments after being sworn in as Lewis County’s newest Superior Court judge, Andrew Toynbee jokingly lamented the infrequency with which judges strike their gavels.
“I thought about bringing that back,” he said
With that, Toynbee struck his gavel for the first time, beginning his next four years on the bench at the Lewis County Law and Justice Center.
Superior Court Judge Nelson Hunt presided over the swearing-in of his successor Wednesday afternoon. The event drew a crowd of friends, colleagues and elected officials who packed Toynbee’s future courtroom, courtroom 1, in the Lewis County Law and Justice Center.
“I’m glad to see this courtroom is packed,” Hunt said, noting that it is a fitting welcome for the new judge.
Hunt, a Superior Court judge for the past 12 years, announced in late 2015 that he planned to retire after his current term was over. He stayed to swear in his replacement Wednesday.
Attendees of the ceremony included sitting Lewis County and state Court of Appeals judges, Lewis County commissioners and other elected officials, representatives from the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office and Prosecutor’s Office and members of Toynbee’s most recent office, the Thurston County Prosecutor’s Office.
Toynbee was until recently chief deputy prosecutor in Thurston County.
Thurston County Prosecutor Jon Tunheim introduced his colleague.
“I can’t imagine, frankly, a person who’s better suited to this position,” he said, calling Toynbee a “genuinely authentic person.”
Tunheim said Toynbee would be a huge loss to his office, but said everyone in Thurston County was “overwhelmed with joy,” for him.
Toynbee lives in Adna with his wife of 24 years, Kirstin, and his children Liam, Audrey and Laurel. Hunt boasted Wednesday of hiring Toynbee to work at the Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office after Toynbee graduated from law school in 1991.
“In a way, I feel responsible for him being here,” Hunt said.
Toynbee has worked at the Thurston County Prosecutor’s Office since 2006, but continued to live in Adna.
“It’s a bit overwhelming,” an emotional Toynbee said moments before taking his oath of office.
Toynbee’s family assisted with the ceremony, with one daughter holding a Bible while he took the oath, and another handing him his gavel. His wife, Kirstin, helped him put on his judge’s robe.
“Forgive me if I become emotional,” Toynbee said after taking his seat at the bench for the first time as a Superior Court judge. “It’s going to happen.”
Toynbee thanked each of his family members for their support, as well as mentors Tunheim and Hunt. He thanked family, friends and colleagues for their support of his decision to run for judge.
“What I heard was not only, ‘You should run,’ but ‘You need to do that,’ ” he said. “I am the product of the lawyers I worked with, that I argued against and the judges I appeared before.”
Toynbee promised to always be diligent and prepared, and to be fair and respectful of everyone in his courtroom.
He was elected after running unopposed in the November general election, becoming one of two new judges in superior court.
Defense attorney Joely O’Rourke was elected to replace Judge Richard Brosey, who is also retiring.
