Washington Criminal Records

Washington sells its conviction record to anyone for $11, searches every court in the state from one screen, and says out loud what every name search leaves out. The State Patrol's own page states that "the only way to positively link someone to a criminal record is through fingerprint verification," and the Criminal Records Privacy Act draws the line between conviction data, which is public, and everything else, which is not. This page gives the Washington rule and the Washington search for each record, with government sources only.

The Washington State Patrol's WATCH system "is the official Internet source providing criminal history conviction records for the state of Washington only." It "includes conviction information, arrests less than one year old with dispositions pending, and information regarding registered sex and kidnap offenders," and the Patrol adds that "the WSP criminal history file may also contain additional information such as arrest records that is not open to the general public." The request form prices both versions: "for an $11 fee and an immediate response using a credit card, access our web site," or "$58 fee, conviction criminal history record information based on fingerprints." The statute behind the split is the Criminal Records Privacy Act, and the Patrol's WATCH questions quote it: "Revised Code of Washington 10.97.050 states that conviction records may be disseminated without restriction." Non-conviction data, arrests that ended without a charge or conviction and are more than a year old, is not available to the public at all, and "vacated cases, sealed records, and misdemeanor traffic violations are excluded from public background check results."

The Washington Courts run a single name and case search that "is a search engine for cases filed in the municipal, district, superior, and appellate courts of the state of Washington," and its own caveat matters: "the search results can point you to the official or complete court record," meaning the search is an index and the file is at the clerk, and "information on the site is updated every 24 hours at 3:00 am." A Washington criminal case is a superior court file for felonies and a district or municipal court file for misdemeanors, and the statewide search finds both, by name, with the case number and the court that holds the record. The county clerks and court clerks provide the documents, several through their own portals, Pierce County's LINX among them. As in every state the search is by name, and the criminal records page explains why the Patrol's fingerprint sentence is the whole problem in one line.

Washington vacates rather than expunges. Under RCW 9.96.060, a person may apply to the sentencing court to vacate a misdemeanor or gross misdemeanor conviction once the sentence is complete, the waiting period has run and, in the statute's words, the applicant "has not been convicted of any new crime in this state, another state, or federal or tribal court in the 3 years prior to the vacation application," with longer periods for domestic violence and the exclusions the section lists; felonies are vacated under RCW 9.94A.640 on their own schedule. A vacated conviction is removed from the public record, the person may state that they were never convicted, and the Patrol excludes it from WATCH, though the statute notes that "a conviction vacated on or after July 28, 2019, qualifies as a prior conviction for the purpose of charging a present recidivist offense." A copy that left before the vacation order is reached through the federal rule on complete and up to date public records.

Washington's Public Records Act opens arrest and booking records, and RCW 42.56.240 holds the exemptions: investigative records whose nondisclosure "is essential to effective law enforcement or for the protection of any person's right to privacy," and the specific categories the section lists. The fact of an arrest, the charge and the jail booking are public. Who is in custody is in the Department of Corrections' incarcerated search, which "publishes information about currently incarcerated individuals," and in the county jail registers, King County's for Seattle and Kent and Pierce County's roster through LINX among them. The arrest records page covers the rest.

A Washington judgment can be executed on for ten years and extended once. RCW 6.17.020 allows execution within ten years and an extension of ten more on application before the first period ends, and RCW 4.56.210 provides that "a lien based upon an underlying judgment continues in force for an additional ten-year period if the period of execution for the underlying judgment is extended under RCW 6.17.020." The lien on real property, under RCW 4.56.190, runs "for a period of not to exceed ten years from the day on which such judgment was entered unless the ten-year period is extended." The court records page covers where the judgments are searched.

Washington is divided into two federal judicial districts under 28 U.S.C. 128. The Eastern District covers the counties of Adams, Asotin, Benton, Chelan, Columbia, Douglas, Ferry, Franklin, Garfield, Grant, Kittitas, Klickitat, Lincoln, Okanogan, Pend Oreille, Spokane, Stevens, Walla Walla, Whitman and Yakima, with court held at Spokane, Yakima, Walla Walla and Richland. The Western District covers the counties of Clallam, Clark, Cowlitz, Grays Harbor, Island, Jefferson, King, Kitsap, Lewis, Mason, Pacific, Pierce, San Juan, Skagit, Skamania, Snohomish, Thurston, Wahkiakum and Whatcom, with court held at Bellingham, Seattle, Tacoma, Mount Vernon and Vancouver. A federal case from any Washington county is on one of those two dockets and on PACER, whose prices and gaps are on the criminal records page.

Whether a person has a Washington conviction: WATCH answers it for $11, by name and date of birth, from the Patrol's file, conviction data only; the $58 fingerprint version answers it for certain.

Whether a person was charged anywhere in Washington: the statewide court search answers it, free, by name, a day behind, with the clerk holding the file.

Whether a person is in custody now: the county jail register answers it, and the Department of Corrections answers it for state prison.

Whether an old case can still be found: a vacated conviction is out of WATCH and the public court record, a judgment expires at ten years unless extended, and a copy that predates a vacation order is reached through the federal rule.