Former Olympia Municipal Court Judge Lee Creighton honored at celebratory event

A group of about 50 people paid tribute to former Olympia Municipal Court Judge Lee Creighton in a bittersweet event that blended laughter and joy with a touch of melancholy on Monday.

The event was held at the Lee Creighton Justice Center in Olympia, amid a backdrop of a major transition for the local court system and its soon to be former home.

The justice center was sold by the City of Olympia for $8.2 million in April to the Squaxin Island Tribe, which plans to redevelop the 10.47 acre property into a hotel featuring about 20,000 square feet of meeting space and a restaurant.

That deal set off a chain of events centering around the future of the Municipal Court. While there was some hope that the court would stay whole and relocate, that optimism was dashed when the Olympia City Council decided to transfer the city’s judicial services to Thurston County District Court about three months after the justice center property was sold.

The move will effectively dissolve the Municipal Court in early 2026.

“It’s sad we’re closing down,” said Maryam Olson, Court Administrator for Olympia Municipal Court, in opening remarks at the event.

She went on to say there are still some people around the justice center who knew Creighton.

“An amazing guy, an amazing attorney,” Olson said.

Judge Pam Nogueria, who has led the Municipal Court since 2023, said once it was a certainty the court would shutter, it was proper to take the opportunity to honor Creighton for whom the justice center was named after in 2011.

“We couldn’t just let go,” Nogueria said.

The event was attended by Creighton’s son, Eli, as well as his wife and other family members.

Eli Creighton, a lawyer who presided on the Municipal Court bench as judge pro tem (a temporary substitute judge) prior to the event on Monday morning, also addressed the crowd.

“This is truly an honor. It started out just reaching out to Maryam to see if we could do something real small to commemorate my father and this court … she went above and beyond and set this all up,” he said.

He also talked about how in the lead up to the event, he had the opportunity to reflect on his dad’s legacy and what he meant, not only to himself but to his family and the community.

“We are given the opportunity to come together … to celebrate somebody who clearly touched so many lives. … We’re given the ability to share love … and we’re given the ability to share memories, which is amazing considering at this point it’s been almost 20 years since my father passed,” he said.