Gayle A. Nachtigal

Presiding Judge

Circuit Court of Washington County

Oregon

Gayle A. Nachtigal is the presiding Judge of the Circuit Court of Washington County, in Hillsboro Oregon.  Judge Nachtigel is an active member in the judicial community. Most notably she is the current President of the American Judges Foundation and on the Board of Governors for the American Judges Association.  Judge Nachtigal received her law degree in 1979 from Northwest School of Law, Lewis and Clark College.   In 1979, she was admitted to Oregon State Bar and in 1983 admitted to the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon. She received her bachelor’s degree from Bowling Green State University in 1975. 

Prior to becoming a Judge in Washington County, Judge Nachtigal enjoyed a distinguished career in private practice in the Oregon Department of Justice and as a deputy district attorney in Washington County’s District Attorney Office.  During her time at the Department of Justice, Judge Nachtigal worked diligently as the attorney in charge of the Collection Section. She supervised attorneys handling a variety of collection litigation cases for various state agencies including plaintiff and defense work.  She was also the Region Manager of the Support Enforcement Division’s Portland office. Judge Nachtigal was also the supervising attorney for the Family Law Section in the Portland office.  Prior to that she was Assistant Attorney General for the Family Law Section from 1983 to 1985. 

In addition to her experience at the Justice Department, from 1979 to 1983 Judge Nachtigal served as only attorney in the Juvenile Department for the Washington County District Attorney’s office. Her duties in this position included all criminal and dependency cases as well as termination of parental rights cases.

Judge Nachtigal is a current member of several community groups and professional organizations including the Oregon’s Women Lawyer’s association, and Rotary International.  She is the former Chair of Tuality Health Care Foundation Endowment, and Board Member of the Tuality Health Care Foundation. 

Judge Nachtigal has volunteered her knowledge and expertise as a Member of the Advisory Commission On Prison Terms and Parole Standards for Oregon, The Judicial Conduct Committee of the Oregon Judicial Conference, and acted as a Board Member for the National Center for State Courts.