Second Time Is A Charm

WALLA WALLA - Walla Walla Attorney Scott Wolfram has always wanted to be a judge. Early in his career in 1982 he ran for Walla Walla County judge against a longtime incumbent.

"I got slaughtered," Wolfram said with a laugh. "But it was a good experience."

Now, 30 years later, Wolfram is running again for a judge posi- tion. With Judge Donald Schacht retiring, he said it is his time to move onto the bench for good. The decision to run for Superior Court Judge for Walla Walla County Department 2 was easy for him.

"I was up for the challenge," Wolfram said.

Wolfram grew up in Detroit and graduated from Lutheran High School West. He said he was passionate about model cars and model trains. He still likes to collect and work on older cars. His favorite is his 1966 Mustang convertible in springtime yellow.

Wolfram admitted he had "no clue" what he wanted to do as a career. He decided he was going to go to college and get his master's degree to become marketable to employers. He ended up going to Valparaiso University for his bachelor's degree in business administration and attended the university's law school. He said he never obtained his MBA because he was burnt out on school.

Before law school, Wolfram said he really didn't have a great idea of what lawyers did. How- ever, when he got into law school classes, his future career started to make more sense for him. He said he had contemplated once going to seminary school to be a pastor. But, he decided he could be an attorney who practiced law and who has Christian beliefs.

Wolfram's alma mater actually brought him from Indiana to Walla Walla. He said two attorneys work- ing in Walla Walla had attended the same law school as he and those connections landed him his first job as a deputy prosecuting attorney for Walla Walla County.

Wolfram remembers promis- ing his wife Laurie they would return to Indiana after a couple of years in Walla Walla. However, the couple stayed put. Laurie works as a nurse at the Walla Walla VA Medical Center and the couple has four children.

After five years as deputy prosecutor, Wolfram became the special assistant to the attorney general for the state of Wash- ington where he represented the Department of Health and Human Services in child abuse and neglect cases. He remembers the job being gut-wrenching at times, but he enjoyed the work.

"It was a calling to represent and protect children," Wolfram said.

When Wolfram went into pri- vate practice at Lohrman, Parker & Wolfram, he took the child abuse and neglect case contract for the state with him and worked with children for nine more years. In 1989, he made a lateral change and went to the law office of Minnick-Hayner. And to take a step toward becoming judge one day, Wolfram in 2003 became a Superior Court commissioner for Walla Walla County. This means he's on the bench in Superior Court every Friday and he's in the courthouse every weekday for 30 minutes handling paperwork and court orders.

When Wolfram isn't in the courtroom or working on his cars, he's communicating with his kids and new grandson via Skype and taking care of the family's 24-acre property that has wheat and corn. He still coaches baseball in Walla Walla as well.

Wolfram's involvement in groups like Campfire, the United Way and Friends of Walla Walla, to name a few, are what he be- lieves sets him apart from his only opponent in the race, Richard Wernette.

"I have been on board since day one and I sill coach baseball," he said.

Retired Superior Court Judge Robert Zagelow said both Wol- fram and Wernette are qualified for the judge position. Zagelow knows Wolfram because they worked in the Minnick-Hayner office together for many years. Zagelow said Wernette's ex- perience as a municipal court judge is on a different level than Wolfram's job as Superior Court commissioner.

"(Wolfram) is over there every day in the courthouse," Zagelow said. "(If elected,) he's going to hit the ground running. It's not even a close call in terms of experience."

Former Walla Walla County sheriff' Mike Humphries, who has worked with Wolfram for 30 years, said he's "energetic and knowledgeable," and makes de- cisions that are informed and fair.