One or more court commissioners may be appointed by a judge of the municipal court. Each commissioner holds office at the pleasure of the appointing judge. A commissioner authorized to hear or dispose of cases must be a lawyer who is admitted to practice law in the state of Washington or a nonlawyer who has passed the qualifying examination for lay judges for courts of limited jurisdiction under RCW 3.34.060.

     A commissioner need not be a resident of the city or of the county in which the municipal court is created. When a court commissioner has not been appointed and the municipal court is presided over by a part-time appointed judge, the judge need not be a resident of the city or of the county in which the municipal court is created.

[1994 c 10 § 1.]