Stepping off the bench and into retirement

Even in December, Jay Gaskill walks around the Nez Perce County Courthouse wearing shorts.

Not that many people know, usually the 2nd District judge is wearing his black judge robes and sits behind the bench in the courtroom, hiding his hot weather attire, which he wears thanks to the warm climate of the courthouse.

However, starting Friday, Gaskill will leave behind his formal (more or less) judicial clothing and walk out in more casual retirement attire.

However, retirement doesn’t mean he’s completely done with the courtroom. Gaskill applied for senior judge status, meaning he will take on a few cases when necessary.

The status has a 90-day waiting period before he can start, so he’ll be taking that time to travel. He and his wife, Lori Gaskill, who is also retired, are planning vacations to warmer destinations like Las Vegas and San Diego, so they’ll be dabbling in the “snowbird” lifestyle.

“I’m still not sure about this whole retirement thing,” Jay Gaskill said. “I don’t know if I made the decision to retire as much as letting it happen.”

That is in reference to deciding to not refile for the election, thereby choosing retirement, a decision he realized was time to make.

“I’m old,” he said. “From all the judges I worked with for most of my career, I’m the last one here.”

Gaskill’s career took a few turns before settling into law.

He grew up in Shoshone, Idaho, and attended the University of Idaho because it was “as far from home as I could get with in-state tuition.”

Gaskill graduated with an undergraduate degree in mass communication and worked through college by fighting wildfires. He went to Boise, working as a fireman at the Whitney Fire Department for three years, before returning to the UI attending law school.

“I found out I wasn’t very good at taking orders so I wanted some occupation or profession where I could be my own boss,” Gaskill said.

Being an attorney allowed him to do that and he worked for Eli Rapaich in Moscow and Lewiston until 2001, when he became a magistrate judge. He was appointed to the 2nd District in 2014 by Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter to fill Judge Carl Kerrick’s seat.

Gaskill made the transition to the judicial role because he wanted to spend more time with his family and be home on weekends and in the evening.

“I just was ready for a change instead of dealing with billing and clients and advocating one side or another,” Gaskill said. “I wanted to be in the actual decision-making position.”

However, that decision-making position comes with its own challenges.

“It is really tough,” Gaskill said. As judge, he has a role in deciding who should be out on the streets, who should be incarcerated and for how long, which means balancing the needs of the individual and what’s best for the community.

For Gaskill, those decisions are made on an individual case-by-case basis.

“You just have to try to do what you think is best and what I found is once you make the decision, you need to move on,” Gaskill said. “Put it behind you and do the best you can up to that time.”

Sometimes, the decision receives backlash on social media or in the newspaper. It can also lead to second-guessing and wondering if you made the right decision.

“Early on, I think you (second-guess) a lot and that’s, I think, where you learn that you can’t do that,” he said. “You got to do all the worry before the actual decision and then just make it and don’t read social media comments.”

Those tough decisions, like sentencings, are an aspect of the job, Gaskill won’t be missing as much.

“Because regardless how much I say you don’t think about it afterward, you can’t help sometimes wondering if you’ve done the right thing,” he said.

Some of the trials Gaskill sat on as a judge will be sentenced by incoming 2nd District Judge Michelle Evans, including at least one murder trial. Some of those decisions are hard to hand off, Gaskill said, but “some of them are kind of a relief, also.”

Despite some of those hard calls, “there is not much I’m happy to leave behind,” Gaskill said about heading into retirement.

One thing Gaskill is “a little envious” of is the new courthouse that will be built. Although he is retiring before it’s completed, the new Nez Perce County Courthouse will have a chamber for visiting judges, which he is looking forward to working out of as a senior judge.

What Gaskill will miss most about his role as 2nd District judge is the people he works with, like the court clerks, attorneys and even interacting with the inmates in the courtroom when it’s appropriate. And this feeling is reciprocated by those he works with.

“Judge Gaskill’s even demeanor in the courtroom was a welcome environment to an otherwise tense setting,” Nez Perce County Prosecutor Justin Coleman said. “He was always willing to be a mentor to attorneys in the room and a great advocate for the criminal justice system.”

Teresa Dammon worked as Gaskill’s criminal clerk and will stay in that position when Evans steps in as judge. Clerks like Dammon are a great help to incoming judges, Gaskill said.

“Judge Gaskill has been a pleasure to work with,” Dammon said. “We will miss him and wish him the best on his well-deserved retirement.”

Gaskill joked that he tells the clerks he does all the work. “I’m not sure the place is going to run without me,” he said with a laugh.

The vacancy left by Gaskill will be filled by Evans, and this won’t be the first time she has filled the retiring judge’s shoes — she also took over for Gaskill at the magistrate level and is now stepping into his position again, a big role to fill, she said.

Gaskill said Evans has sat in on some court sessions and will be able to be off and running when she starts her new role.

“It’s been a pleasure watching Judge Gaskill work and I’m looking forward to continuing the same tradition that he has as far as the quality that he’s provided as a judge,” Evans said.

Some things, though, will change — like some of the joking and Gaskill’s signature fashion.

“I won’t be nearly as humorous as Judge Gaskill. He’s known for his humor, I don’t quite have that,” Evans said, adding, “I promise I won’t wear shorts on the bench.”

Brewster may be contacted at kbrewster@lmtribune.com or at (208) 848-2297.