Forum features Federal Way Municipal Court judge candidates

Published 7:00 am Wednesday, October 29, 2025

Candidates participated in a forum to answer questions about who they are and why they believe they should be voted in as a Federal Way Municipal Court judge.

On Oct. 23, the Life Point Law firm hosted a Federal Way judicial candidate forum for Municipal Court Judge Position 2, which will replace retiring Judge David Larson. The livestream of the full debate is available on Life Point Law’s Facebook page.

The judicial candidates are Mitch Greene and Danielle Havens, who each had two minutes for an opening and closing statement, and then one minute to answer each question. Greene is currently judge pro-tem at the Federal Way Municipal Court and the Bremerton Municipal Court, and runs his own law firm. Havens is judge pro-tem at the Federal Way Municipal Court and 11 other municipal courts throughout King and Pierce counties.

In his opening statement, Greene stated that he is a lawyer of 33 years who emphasizes a fair and firm application of the law and holds people accountable for their actions. Greene said he is objective, efficient and demonstrates personal and professional integrity. Greene said outside of work, he has a wife of 37 years, has raised three children and now has three grandchildren.

“I was involved in one of the early cases addressing battered woman syndrome, contributing to the preparation of a clemency petition in 1991 to the governor of Washington state,” Greene said. “I was instrumental in shaping the niche of traffic law relating to infractions in Washington state.”

In her opening statement, Havens said that she is a lawyer of 23 years, she loves the work she does as a judge and she feels she’s good at it. Havens said she is meant to be a municipal court judge because she has a desire to be part of a community.

The first question that candidates answered was how they would work with the other judge in Federal Way, Judge Brad Bales. Greene said that he believes he would work well with Bales. He said he has observed Bales, has covered for him and has incorporated his views regarding reviews, sentencings, and the readiness calendars. Greene said he recently spent two business days with Bales at the therapeutic court conference and also learned more about community court at that conference.

Havens stated that she is looking forward to being in court with Bales and that she likes having another judge work alongside her because often municipal courts have one judge, and that can be isolating. Havens said that her experience is mostly in criminal defense, and Bales’ is in prosecutorial work, so she thinks putting those two styles together will be supportive of the people they would serve in Federal Way. Havens said she would look forward to learning from Bales the same way that Bales learned from Larson.

Regarding the biggest issue facing the legal justice system, Greene said it was funding. He said the court is behind and not running efficiently, causing a backlog of about 20 to 30 cases ready to go to trial, but only about one to two trials can be conducted a week.

“If you have a backlog in court, it doesn’t matter what the police do because you’re just going to end up having more and more criminals, and you’re going to have the backup,” Greene said. “So the bottom line is really funding, and we need more clerks, and we need more experienced clerks.”

Havens said that crime has gone down in Federal Way, and that’s exciting, but on Dec. 6, the light rail is opening, which could make Federal Way much more accessible to people from Seattle and other areas that are tougher and rougher. Havens said that the fentanyl crisis and addiction are another issue impacting all communities, and she said the money Federal Way received to address opioid addiction should be used to reduce recidivism by treating people.

“In supporting their sobriety, we will keep our community so much safer. And all of these opioid remediation efforts are essential, and there is a playbook for it,” Havens said. “We simply have to put it into action. And I am very much looking forward to working with the council and the mayor and our court system to make that happen.”

In her closing statement, Havens said that since she started working full-time pro-tem, she found she has a passion for being a judge, and it has given a lot of meaning to her life. Havens said moving around 11 different courts has given her a sense of how she wants to impact the community, how she wants to help people, what hasn’t been working for them, and how they can move forward into law-abiding behavior.

“I say to people every day, I think that you deserve better than the choices that you’re making,” Havens said. “And sometimes they’ll look shocked and surprised, but it’s true.”

Greene said his role as a judge is not to be a legislator, but to follow the law. He said he will work to strengthen the public trust and confidence in the judiciary. Greene said he believes the best way to understand someone is through getting to know them, so he finished off his closing statement sharing various testimonials from people who know him.