First judge appointed to future Auburn Municipal Court

Published 1:00 pm Friday, April 24, 2026

The Auburn City Council unanimously confirmed the appointment of Judge Matthew Leyba on April 20 to Position 1 on the future Auburn Municipal Court.

Leyba’s term on the bench extends from Jan. 1, 2027, to Dec. 31, 2029. Position 2 is not yet filled.

Leyba has practiced law in Western Washington for more than 20 years, and recently began serving as a judge pro-tem in Renton Municipal Court.

Leyba made his case to the council for appointment to the new city court the previous Monday.

“My judicial philosophy is based on three principle: fairness, transparency and accountability. When I talk about fairness, of course, I mean treating everybody that comes before me equally and fairly, based on the law and facts,” he said.

Transparency, he said, is one of the keys to becoming a good judge and having a good courtroom. That is, being transparent with judicial decisions so everyone understands how the judge arrived at his or her decision.

Accountability, he said, can occur in a variety of ways, one of those ways being through community or diversion-type programs, of which he is a strong advocate.

“What I’m talking about is that individuals are in compliance with court orders, and maintain compliance with the law, thus reducing future harm to the community,” Leyba said.

Councilmember Lisa Stirgus spoke before the vote.

“I felt personally the judge’s qualifications and integrity came through in his presentation last week,” Stirgus said. “What I really loved is that … he’s got a huge track record for fairness and community trust. I haven’t met too many people where you can reach out to every person he’s worked with in the last five years and get such positive feedback, how much joy there was in working with this person.”

“What I personally was able to take away was the feeling of empathy woven throughout his ability to use head and heart in making decisions and helping folks to improve their lives going forward and holding them accountable.”

Councilmember Kate Baldwin also responded.

“In your recommendation, you said that all the people that you heard from or that he worked with in the past five years had glowing feedback, so I was curious which individuals you spoke with,” Baldwin inquired.

Stirgus responded that earlier that evening Human Resources Director Candis Martinson had given council members an update on the future court that detailed Leyba’s referrals and what his references had shared about him: “So that was what my intention was in commenting,” Sturgis said.