ReElect Judge Chuck Snyder

Community

As Superior Court Judge, Chuck Snyder has continued his involvement with his community. His interests include helping youth, making Bellingham and Whatcom County a better place to live, and making sure that the legal system works for the citizens of our area.

Judge Snyder works with and on behalf of youth

Serves on the Board of Directors for Big Brothers, Big Sisters of Northwest Washington. This agency provides mentors and positive role models for boys and girls in our community and our schools.

Oversees Whatcom County Teen Court, a program involving Northwest Youth Services and ten Whatcom County high schools in which students act as attorneys, jurors, clerks, bailiffs and judges in determining the penalty to be given to minor offenders. The program won two Liberty Bell Awards from the Whatcom County Bar Association and involves over 120 high school students each year. This program, one of the first of its kind in Washington, has been proven to reduce the chances that an offender will commit another offense and is significantly less expensive than prosecution. At least one Teen Court participant has gone on to a career as an attorney, and Judge Snyder was honored to be able to administer the Oath of Attorney to him.

Facilitates the YMCA Mock Trial Competition since 2002. This program provides high school students with a fictional legal case in which they play the roles of attorneys and witnesses in preparing and presenting trial a in a courtroom. This day-long competition takes place in the Whatcom County Courthouse, and the winners advance to state level competition. The 2008 Meridian High School team was invited to participate at the national level and placed very well.

Judge Snyder can also be found regularly speaking to high school classes about law and the legal system.

Judge Snyder works on behalf of the broader community

Serving on community boards is something Judge Snyder has done for many years. His most recent efforts are:

Member of the Board of Directors for Sun Community Services since 1992. Sun provides transitional housing for people with mental health needs as they reintegrate into the community.

Whatcom Museum Society Board, serving as its Vice President for Strategic Planning.

Chaired a committee that wrote and published the Domestic Violence/Child Protective Services Protocol. The committee included law enforcement, the courts, prosecuting attorneys and defense attorneys, domestic violence service providers and the Department of Social and Health Services, among others. The document created by this committee gives each agency or person who deals with a case involving both domestic violence and child abuse and neglect guidance on how to proceed and how other agencies or persons will act. The Protocol has been distributed throughout Whatcom County and Judge Snyder continues to lead the effort to monitor and encourage its use to protect children and adult victims of domestic violence.

An active member of the Rotary Club of Bellingham and has just ended a term on the Board of Directors.