Joseph Jude Tyson (born October 16, 1957) is an American Catholic prelate who served as Bishop of Yakima since 2011.

Joseph Tyson was born on October 16, 1957, in Moses Lake, Washington, and attended Blessed Sacrament Parish School in Seattle.

[1][2] Having decided to become a priest, Tyson traveled to Washington, D.C. to enter the Catholic University of America (CUA).

[3]He received his episcopal consecration on June 6 2005 from Archbishop Alexander Brunett at St. James Cathedral, with Bishops George Thomas and Gustavo Garcia-Siller, serving as co-consecrators.

[6] In 2007, Tyson testified at a Washington State Legislature hearing on a proposed Washington initiative to offer domestic partnership benefits to same-sex couples; he promoted broadening its provisions, a controversial strategy used elsewhere by the Catholic Church, extending the definition of partnership to relationships beyond that of unmarried couples, to prevent discrimination against an elderly parent, a sibling, housemate or another in residence thus limiting its potential affirmative impact for gay rights, consistent with the Catholic Church's long-standing position.