Washington judicial system consists of Superior Courts, District Courts, Municipal Courts, and Traffic Violations Bureaus. Superior Courts have general jurisdiction over all cases that are not within the exclusive jurisdiction of another court. District Courts have supervision over certain types of civil, criminal and traffic cases. Municipal Courts have limited jurisdiction over certain criminal cases and most ordinance violation cases. Traffic Violations Bureaus are for city ordinance violations.
It is a vital duty of these courts to maintain the list of the court cases with all the necessary documents along with hearing and settling issues. The records are available to public for reference use. Only official copies are acceptable as proof usable in any legal proceedings. The court records of Washington are created, maintained, and destroyed by the clerk offices of the individual courts of jurisdiction.
If you are interested in obtaining court records, you should go to the courthouse where the case is taking place and request the records in writing from the clerk of the court. Alternatively, you may be able to access court records online. Refer to a local court's website and check to see if the court provides online access. In either case, a written request is required in order to receive copies of any Washington court records. Though it is at the discretion of the clerk of the respective court houses as to fulfill a request for records or deny that request for records, access to the court records of Washington is granted to all residents during regular business hours.
For online users, the state has its own judicial website that is available for public use, at no charge. In addition, there are county agencies that can assist you in finding the public information that you're looking for. You may search by case number or name. Most people search by name as few people already have the case number on hand. If you know middle name or initial and date of birth it will really help to narrow the results, making it easier to search the Washington records.
In the government website, your search covers all 39 Washington Superior Courts and nearly every District and Municipal Court in the state of Washington. The categories subdivided into Felony Criminal Records, Civil, Divorce Records / Family Law / Domestic, Probate / Wills, juvenile Offenders / Juvenile Dependents and Judgments.
As a general matter, you may access docket information, the pleadings and motions of the parties to a lawsuit, decisions and orders of the court, evidence introduced in court by either side, and transcripts of hearings, among other items found in a case file. Courts with online access usually provide access to docket sheets; however, documents filed with the court rarely are accessible. Also, you will not be able to access court records that contain highly sensitive material, such as adoption records, mental illness commitment records, and alcohol and drug treatment commitment records. Other types of records, such as those concerning family law cases, are restricted. There are limits on who can request this sensitive information. Court rules specify that "a public purpose agency may request court records not publicly accessible for scholarly, governmental, or research purposes where the identification of specific individuals is ancillary to the purpose of the inquiry." You must then sign a dissemination contract before accessing the restricted records. The dissemination contract obligates you to protect confidential information, including the identity of individuals. It also prohibits you from making copies of the records.
Thus, Washington court records online accessing can be a boon to the general public if properly maintained and utilized. It serves countless purposes apart from enquiry and investigation.
