Washington Court Information

The Washington court system can be divided into two kinds of courts – federal courts and state courts.

Here are the Washington state courts:

•    The Supreme Court
•    The Appeals Court (present in 3 divisions)
•    The Superior Court (there are 39 courts – you will find one court in each county)
•    The District Court
•    The Municipal Court

Like most other states in the country, the Supreme Court is the highest legal body in Washington. Here, there are 8 justices and a Chief Justice, and they each serve a term for 6 years.

Though this is the state Supreme Court, it needs to be mentioned that its decisions have far greater consequence as they are treated as precedents all over the country. According to a study published by this court, its decisions rank second when it comes to the other appellate courts following them. California ranks first.

The Appeals Court works as the intermediate court of appeals in the state. There are 3 divisions that are based in Seattle, Tacoma and Spokane.

There are 29 Superior Courts in Washington across thirty-nine counties. These are general jurisdiction Washington courts that deal with domestic relations, mental illness, issues related to estate, property rights, juvenile cases and those civil matters where the amount involved is not more than $50,000.

Communicating with a Washington Court

There may be a need for you to access court records or to approach the court to resolve a dispute. Of course there can be cases when you feel the need to learn about the legal regulations in the state as well. For all such needs, you can visit the state's legal website, which is at www.courts.wa.gov. You can learn about a specific Washington court, regulations, notices and much more here.

The WA court system has been designed in a way so that it can deal with all types of cases smoothly. If need be, you can also search the records of any court, and this is possible for the following types of cases:

•    Criminal cases (including those for felonies)
•    Civil cases
•    Marital cases (comprising of divorce cases and domestic violence lawsuits)
•    Probate court services
•    Cases where judgment is pending
•    Juvenile cases (i.e., child crime lawsuits)

The list of cases mentioned above mostly fall under the judicial authority of the ‘superior’ courts of the state. On the other hand, a district level Washington state court might have to deal with any of the following lawsuits:

•    Cases of misdemeanor (petty criminal offenses)
•    Orders of domestic violence protection
•    Traffic rule violations

Tracking of Criminal Activity in the Washington Court System

The State of Washington has a unique policy to keep an eye on its criminal cases count. The courts keep the National Criminal Index in perspective, which allows the authorities to form a fair idea of the emerging trends in criminal lawsuits in Washington.