Retiring Clackamas County Circuit Court Judge Kathi Steele, who presided over the case that ushered in public access to Oswego Lake, has a replacement.

Gov. Tina Kotek announced that she will appoint Colleen F. Gilmartin to the Clackamas County Circuit Court effective June 30.

“Colleen Gilmartin has been a Clackamas County Circuit Court judge pro tem since 2018, serving as lead judge for the Clackamas County Juvenile Court, Community Court, and adult civil commitment cases. Prior to her judicial service she was a prosecutor with the Clackamas County District Attorney’s Office for 15 years,” a release from Kotek’s press office reads.

One of Steele’s final rulings was mandating that the city of Lake Oswego, the Lake Corporation and the State of Oregon must pay $1.5 million in attorney fees to the lawyers of plaintiffs Todd Prager and Mark Kramer in the lake case. Before that, Steele’s judgement ruled that the lake is public and the city’s previous rules preventing access to the lake from Millennium Plaza Park were not legal.