The Kitsap County Board of Commissioners recently appointed David Lewis to serve as County Clerk.

Lewis fills the vacancy created with the resignation of Alison Sontag, who served since August 2017. The term runs until elections in November 2022.

“In David’s 37-year career in the Superior Court clerk’s office he has been involved in nearly every aspect of those operations,” said Commissioner Rob Gelder, chair of the board. “He has a reputation across the community as being accessible and a servant leader, not to mention he received off-the-chart approval in the Bar Association poll.”

Commissioners selected Lewis from a pool of three candidates nominated by the county’s Democratic Central Committee.

The county clerk is the administrative and financial officer for Superior Court. The clerk receives, processes and preserves documents for Superior Court matters, including criminal, civil, family law, probate, guardianship, paternity and adoption. As financial officer, the clerk collects fees and fines, victim restitution, and maintains the court’s trust account. The clerk also performs quasi-judicial functions, such as issuing warrants of arrest, and provides jury management of all county courts.

During his more than three decades of service in Kitsap County, Lewis has served under four clerks and most recently led the Court Services Unit, overseeing protection orders and jury and courthouse facilitators. He was a long-time specialist and trainer for protection orders, especially in helping victims of domestic violence and as a community liaison to the courts. Most recently, he has taken on supervisory roles within the office and assisted in budget development and administration. His goals include continuing to make resources of the office more widely visible to the public and adapting new technologies to support the court system.