Washington Criminal Records Search: Cases & Public Records

Q: How much does a Washington State Patrol WATCH search cost?

The Washington State Patrol currently charges 11 dollars for each online WATCH name-and-date-of-birth search, regardless of whether a matching record is returned.

Q: Is WATCH the same as the Washington court case search?

No. Washington Courts helps locate court cases, while WATCH is the Washington State Patrol's public criminal-history service.

Q: Can I see my own non-conviction Washington criminal history?

Yes. Washington State Patrol permits the record subject to inspect their complete criminal-history record in Olympia after fingerprint identification and also provides a fingerprint-based process for obtaining a personal non-conviction criminal-history copy.

Q: Are federal criminal cases included in Washington court or WATCH searches?

No. Federal criminal cases are separate. Use PACER for cases filed in the federal Eastern or Western District of Washington.

Washington official-records guide

Start with the right Washington criminal-record system

Washington criminal records are spread across courts, the Washington State Patrol, local law-enforcement agencies, county jails and the Department of Corrections. A court case search is not the same as a Washington State Patrol criminal-history report, and neither is the same as a jail booking or DOC record. This guide shows which official system to use and what each source can actually tell you.

Coverage: Washington State Information checked: September 25, 2026 Primary sources: Washington Courts, WSP and DOC

Quick answer: use the free Washington Courts Case Records Search to locate a state court case; use WATCH when you need the Washington State Patrol’s public criminal-history report; use Odyssey Portal or the local court for fuller Superior Court information; and use Washington DOC for current state incarceration records.

Find a Washington court case Search municipal, district, superior and appellate court case indexes.

Use Washington Courts →

Order a criminal-history search Public Washington conviction information from the State Patrol.

Use WATCH →

Review your own full record Fingerprint-based review including non-conviction information available to you.

Use WSP Record Review →

Find a state prisoner Search current Washington DOC incarceration information.

Use DOC →

Get an arrest or police report Request records from the law-enforcement agency that created them.

Local records route →

Vacated or sealed record? Understand Washington’s separate vacating, sealing and deletion procedures.

Record relief →

Washington does not have one database containing every criminal record

Different agencies create different parts of a criminal-history trail. Searching only one source can therefore miss records that are held somewhere else.

Washington Courts

Court case

Use for court filings, case numbers and public case indexes across municipal, district, superior and appellate courts.

Washington State Patrol

Criminal history

WATCH provides the state’s official public criminal-history response based on records submitted to the Washington State Identification System.

Police / Sheriff

Arrest and incident records

The agency that investigated or made the arrest generally maintains the police report and related law-enforcement records.

County Jail

Local custody

County jail bookings are maintained locally rather than through one statewide county-jail database.

Department of Corrections

State incarceration

DOC provides information about people currently incarcerated under Washington DOC jurisdiction.

Appellate Courts

Appeals

Supreme Court and Court of Appeals documents use Washington’s separate appellate document portal.

An arrest or charge is not a conviction. Washington law itself requires criminal-history reports to distinguish arrests from findings of guilt. Always check the final court disposition before describing how a criminal case ended.

Free Washington State court case search

The Washington Courts Case Records Search is the state’s public search engine for cases filed in municipal, district, superior and appellate courts.

It can be used to:

search by case number
search by participant name
search across court levels
locate a court date
identify the court holding the case
locate an appellate case

Open Washington Court Case Search

Best use: use the statewide search to discover whether a case exists and identify the court and case number. Then move to the court that actually holds the record for the disposition and complete file.

The Washington statewide court search is a locator — not the official court record

Washington Courts is unusually clear about this limitation. Its statewide public search provides a brief index of public cases but does not replace the official record maintained by the individual court.

Question	What the statewide search can do	What you must do next
Does a case exist?	Often yes — the index can identify public cases.	Confirm the result with the court of record.
What is the case number?	Often available.	Save it for document and clerk requests.
How did the case end?	Not reliably provided as the official disposition.	Consult the actual local or appellate court record.
Can I download every filing?	No.	Use Odyssey, re:SearchWA or the individual court where available.
Is this a statewide criminal-history report?	No.	Use WSP WATCH for public Washington criminal-history information.
Are sealed cases shown?	Public web search does not display sealed cases.	Authorized access requires the appropriate court procedure.

Timing: Washington Courts says the statewide search generally updates approximately 24 hours after clerks enter information. Very recent court activity may therefore not appear instantly.

Use Odyssey Portal for many Washington Superior Court cases

Washington’s Odyssey Portal provides public online access to Superior Court case information in participating counties.

As of the current Washington Courts guidance, Odyssey is used by 37 Washington Superior Courts.

Anonymous public access

No registration required

Anonymous users can search non-confidential, non-sealed Superior Court case information in participating counties.

Registered access

Document access varies

Online document access depends on the county, document-management system, user role and Clerk authorization. County fees can apply.

Odyssey search tips

Odyssey’s Smart Search supports searches by party name or record number. Washington Courts also documents wildcard searching.

For example, entering a partial surname followed by an asterisk can help locate name variations when the portal’s minimum-character requirements are met.

Important exception: Odyssey does not contain King County or Pierce County Superior Court records, and it does not provide the full record population of Washington’s district and municipal courts.

King County and Pierce County require extra attention

Washington’s court technology is not completely uniform. King and Pierce County Superior Courts are not part of the 37-county Odyssey Portal population.

King County Superior Court

Washington Courts advises users that the most current King County Superior Court case information should be checked through King County’s own online Superior Court system rather than relying only on older statewide-index information.

Pierce County Superior Court

Pierce is also outside the Odyssey system. Use Washington’s statewide case locator to identify the case and then follow the Pierce County Superior Court / Clerk record-access path for complete and current records.

Statewide rule that works: find the case number first, then use the record system maintained by the county where the case was filed.

District and Municipal Court criminal records

Washington’s Courts of Limited Jurisdiction include district and municipal courts. These courts commonly handle misdemeanor, gross-misdemeanor and other limited-jurisdiction criminal matters.

Washington is currently transitioning these courts to a newer case-management platform. The public-facing component is called re:SearchWA.

Current transition: re:SearchWA is live for courts that have moved to Washington’s new limited-jurisdiction case-management system, but the statewide rollout is still being completed and is scheduled to continue through 2027.

This means a statewide search can involve more than one system during the transition. If a district or municipal case is difficult to locate, identify the specific court and check its current record-search instructions.

Washington’s Court Directory provides contact information for courts statewide.

How to obtain Washington criminal court documents and certified copies

Washington does not use one statewide copy fee for every trial court. To obtain the actual complaint, judgment, sentencing document, order, minute entry or other filed record, contact the court where the case was filed.

Find the case number

Start with the statewide Washington Courts search or the appropriate local portal.

Identify the court of record

Confirm whether the case belongs to a municipal, district, superior or appellate court.

Check the court’s online document system

Depending on the court, this may involve Odyssey Portal, re:SearchWA, a county-specific portal or an appellate document system.

Contact the clerk for unavailable documents

Ask whether the document is available electronically, in person or by mail.

Specify whether certification is required

A certified copy can cost more than an ordinary copy, and fees vary by court.

Older case? The absence of an online document image does not necessarily mean the court no longer holds the file. Contact the individual court for archived-record procedures.

Washington State Patrol WATCH criminal-history search

The official statewide public criminal-history service is WATCH — Washington Access to Criminal History , operated by the Washington State Patrol.

WATCH searches Washington State criminal-history information submitted to the State Patrol’s criminal-history repository by courts and criminal-justice agencies.

Current online fee: a WATCH name-and-date-of-birth search costs $11 per search, whether or not the search produces a matching record.

What you need

WATCH is a name-and-date-of-birth search. The State Patrol warns that name-based results can identify the wrong person, particularly when people share similar names and birth dates.

Fingerprint verification is the strongest identity check. WSP states that the only way to positively link an individual to a criminal-history record is through fingerprint verification.

Open official WSP WATCH

What a Washington WATCH report includes — and leaves out

Information	Public WATCH report?	Important limitation
Washington conviction information	Yes	Conviction information may be publicly disseminated under Washington law.
Recent arrest with disposition pending	Potentially	WSP includes qualifying arrests less than one year old while disposition remains pending.
Registered sex / kidnapping offender information	Included where applicable	Subject to Washington’s criminal-history dissemination rules.
Older non-conviction arrest information	No	Ordinary public WATCH reports do not disclose general non-conviction information.
Vacated conviction	Excluded	WSP says vacated cases are excluded from public WATCH results.
Sealed record	Excluded	Sealed records are not included in ordinary public results.
Misdemeanor traffic violation	Excluded	WSP specifically excludes misdemeanor traffic violations from public WATCH results.
Other-state convictions	No	WATCH is a Washington State criminal-history search, not a nationwide check.
Federal criminal court cases	No	Use federal court resources such as PACER.

Court search and WATCH work well together. WATCH can identify publicly releasable state criminal-history information; the court file can then provide the actual docket, judgment and case-specific documents.

Washington criminal-history search fees

WSP service	Current published fee	Method / note
WATCH name + DOB search	$11	Online; charged for each name searched regardless of result.
WATCH notarized letter	$15	Optional online notarized response.
Conviction-history request by name/DOB	$32	By mail or in person through WSP.
Fingerprint-based conviction CHRI request	$58	Full fingerprint card submitted to WSP.
WSP fingerprinting service	$16	Current Olympia fingerprint-service fee.
Personal non-conviction CHRI copy	$12	Fingerprint card required; for the record subject’s personal use.
Inspect your complete CHRI in person	No fee	Olympia only; fingerprints required to establish identity.

Government fees can change. Verify the current amount on the Washington State Patrol Criminal History page immediately before mailing a request or visiting the Olympia office.

How to review your own complete Washington criminal history

The public WATCH report does not show the same data available to the person whose record it is. Washington law allows an individual to inspect their own criminal-history record maintained by WSP.

Option 1: inspect the complete record in Olympia

WSP currently permits the record subject to inspect their complete Washington criminal-history record, including non-conviction information, at its Criminal History Records Section.

There is no fee for the inspection. WSP requires fingerprints to establish positive identity and allows a reasonable inspection period, not exceeding 30 minutes under its published procedure.

Option 2: order your non-conviction CHRI copy

WSP currently allows the record subject to mail a fingerprint card and $12 to receive a copy of qualifying non-conviction CHRI for personal use.

Washington State Patrol

Identification and Criminal History Section

PO Box 42633
Olympia, WA 98504-2633

Phone: 360-534-2000
Criminal-history questions: select option 5

What to do if a Washington criminal-history record is wrong

WSP provides a formal modification and challenge process for people who believe their Washington criminal-history information is inaccurate or incomplete.

Review your record

Obtain or inspect the record so you can identify the exact arrest, charge, disposition or identity information at issue.

Gather supporting court documents

A dismissal, amended judgment, vacation order, sealing order or corrected disposition can help show why the WSP record should be updated.

Submit WSP’s Request for Modification of Record

Identify the inaccurate or incomplete information and follow the current Criminal History Records Section instructions.

Ask whether prior recipients should be notified

WSP says updated information may be provided to people or agencies that previously received the record.

Wrong person attached to the record?

Washington State Patrol also operates a Compromised Identity Claim program for people affected by criminal identity theft or by another person’s similar name and date of birth.

Fingerprint comparison matters here. WSP can use fingerprint evidence to confirm whether the disputed arrest actually belongs to you.

Washington police reports and arrest records

Police reports are not automatically part of the court’s online case index. The law-enforcement agency that created the report is usually the first place to request it.

Washington state and local agencies operate under the Washington Public Records Act, Chapter 42.56 RCW, although law-enforcement information has important exemptions and privacy protections.

No court case yet

Contact the police or sheriff

Request the identifiable public arrest or incident record from the agency that investigated the event.

Case already prosecuted

Record location can vary

Police-report access may involve the law-enforcement agency, prosecutor, defense discovery, or the court if a report was filed as evidence and is publicly accessible.

Not every investigative record must be released. RCW 42.56.240 protects categories of investigative, victim, witness and other sensitive law-enforcement information when statutory conditions are met.

Washington county jail records are local

Washington does not operate one universal public county-jail roster for every county. A person recently arrested can be held by a county or city jail while having no current DOC incarceration entry.

For a recent arrest:

Step 1

Identify county

Determine where the person was arrested or booked.

Step 2

Find sheriff / jail

Use the official county corrections or sheriff website.

Step 3

Check custody

Look for current inmate, jail roster or booking information.

Step 4

Check court

Use Washington Courts to follow the criminal case after filing.

King County jail, Spokane County jail, Pierce County jail and other local systems are separate. Search the county holding the person rather than expecting Washington DOC to include every local detainee.

Washington Department of Corrections incarcerated-person search

The Washington DOC Incarcerated Search publishes selected information about people currently incarcerated under DOC jurisdiction.

You can search using:

DOC number
first name
last name
current facility information

Search results can show the person’s DOC number, age, location and current housing assignment where that information is available.

Need an older or former DOC record? DOC says you can contact the department for information about current and former incarcerated individuals and people under supervision when the public search is not sufficient.

Search Washington DOC

Washington warrant searches: there is an important limitation

Washington DOC provides an official Warrant Search , but it should not be mistaken for a database of every warrant issued by every Washington court.

The DOC tool publishes people with qualifying outstanding Secretary’s warrants, generally involving individuals under DOC jurisdiction who have violated community-custody requirements or fall within other DOC warrant authority.

Users can search by:

first name
last name
DOC number
crime
county

Need an ordinary court arrest warrant? Check the court handling the criminal case and the responsible local law-enforcement agency. DOC’s Secretary’s Warrant Search is not a substitute for every county or municipal warrant system.

Washington Supreme Court and Court of Appeals criminal records

Washington’s Appellate Court Public Document Portal provides free public access to qualifying Supreme Court and Court of Appeals documents.

Current document coverage: the portal provides public appellate documents from cases filed after January 1, 2020. Registration is not required and document access is free.

A complete appellate case number is required to search the document portal. Use Washington’s general case search first if you need to identify that number.

What the appellate portal does not provide

trial-court clerk’s papers
trial exhibits
the full trial-court record
sealed appellate documents
confidential or restricted documents
documents from cases filed before January 1, 2020

Vacating a Washington conviction is not the same as deleting the court case

Washington law provides separate vacation procedures for qualifying felony, misdemeanor and gross-misdemeanor convictions.

Felony

RCW 9.94A.640

Qualifying felony convictions may be vacated by the sentencing court when statutory requirements are met.

Misdemeanor

RCW 9.96.060

Qualifying misdemeanor and gross-misdemeanor convictions can be vacated through the sentencing court.

When a qualifying conviction is vacated, Washington law changes the conviction’s legal treatment and requires criminal-history systems to update the record.

But the court case can remain searchable. Washington Courts explains that a vacated case can remain in court indexes with its status changed to indicate the conviction was vacated. Vacation does not automatically mean the entire court record disappears.

Washington Courts publishes current vacating and sealing forms for qualifying criminal cases.

Sealing Washington criminal court records

Court-record sealing is governed primarily by Washington General Rule 15 and applicable statutes. Sealing and vacating are separate legal actions.

Washington Courts explains that sealing can occur when authorized by law and court rule, including situations involving compelling privacy or safety interests.

Vacated does not automatically mean sealed. A conviction can be vacated while court-index information remains publicly searchable. A separate sealing order may be required when legally available.

Even when a vacated criminal case is subsequently sealed, Washington court rules can preserve limited public index information such as the case number, party name and notation that the matter was vacated.

Deleting qualifying non-conviction criminal-history information

Washington has a separate process for some non-conviction criminal-history data maintained by criminal-justice agencies.

Under RCW 10.97.060, qualifying non-conviction information can become eligible for deletion from criminal-history files that are normally searched when responding to name-based inquiries.

General statutory timing: eligibility can arise after at least two years from a favorable disposition, or after three years from an arrest, citation or warrant where no conviction occurred, subject to statutory exceptions.

An agency can refuse deletion in circumstances specified by law, including certain diversion histories, prior felony or gross-misdemeanor convictions, or new arrests/charges during the intervening period.

WSP provides a Request for Expungement/Deletion of Non-Conviction Records for qualifying repository information.

This process does not automatically erase every local record. WSP specifically warns that deleting qualifying information from the state criminal-history system does not itself remove records held separately by local agencies.

Washington juvenile records have different access and sealing rules

Juvenile offender records are governed by separate Washington statutes and court rules. They should not be treated as ordinary adult criminal-history records.

Washington Courts provides specific juvenile sealing forms, and RCW 13.50 contains additional rules governing access to and sealing of juvenile records.

Do not attempt to work around juvenile access restrictions. A person seeking their own juvenile record or acting with legal authority should use the procedure provided by the juvenile court that holds the file.

Federal criminal cases in Washington State are separate

Washington Courts and WSP WATCH do not replace federal court systems. Federal criminal prosecutions in Washington are filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington or the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington.

Use PACER for federal criminal case dockets and qualifying public federal court documents.

WATCH is Washington-only. A person can have an out-of-state or federal criminal case that does not appear in a Washington WATCH report.

Washington State Patrol criminal-history office in Olympia

The WSP Identification and Criminal History Section provides in-person criminal-history and fingerprint services at its Olympia location.

Criminal-history office

Washington State Patrol — Identification & Criminal History Section

Helen Sommers Building
106 11th Ave. SW, Suite 1300
Olympia, WA 98501

Phone: 360-534-2000
Published hours: Monday-Friday, 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.
Closed: 12:00 p.m.-1:00 p.m. and legal holidays

WSP says fingerprinting is available only at this Olympia office. Its current instructions ask visitors to arrive by 4:30 p.m. for fingerprint services.

Washington criminal-record search tips that save time

Tip 01

Start free with the court index

If you only need to identify a known case, search Washington Courts before paying for a WATCH report.

Tip 02

Do not use the index as the disposition

Washington Courts explicitly says the statewide search does not provide the official case outcome.

Tip 03

Use Odyssey for participating Superior Courts

The portal can provide more detailed Superior Court case information than the basic statewide index.

Tip 04

King and Pierce are exceptions

Neither county’s Superior Court records are part of Odyssey’s standard 37-county population.

Tip 05

WATCH costs $11 every time

WSP charges the online search fee even when the result is “no record” or no exact match.

Tip 06

Fingerprint verification beats a name match

Names and birth dates can match the wrong person; fingerprints provide stronger identity confirmation.

Tip 07

Recent arrest? Check the county jail

A booking can appear locally before a case has fully propagated through state court-search systems.

Tip 08

Vacated is not necessarily invisible

The court index can continue showing limited information even after a conviction has been vacated.

Tip 09

Check the appellate record

A trial-level judgment can later be affirmed, reversed, modified or remanded on appeal.

Using Washington criminal records for employment, housing or screening

A public court search and a WATCH report are not automatically interchangeable with a legally compliant consumer background report used for employment, housing, credit, insurance or another regulated decision.

Washington and federal law can impose additional requirements depending on who is requesting the record, how the information was obtained and what decision is being made.

Purpose matters. Do not assume an ordinary public-record search satisfies the Fair Credit Reporting Act or Washington employment, tenant-screening or licensing requirements.

Washington State criminal records: frequently asked questions

1. Can I search Washington criminal court cases for free?

Yes. Washington Courts provides a free statewide public case-search service covering municipal, district, superior and appellate court cases. The search is a case locator and does not replace the official court record.

2. How much does a Washington State Patrol WATCH search cost?

WSP currently charges $11 for each online WATCH name-and-date-of-birth search. The fee applies regardless of whether the search returns a matching record.

3. Is WATCH the same as the Washington court case search?

No. Washington Courts helps locate court cases. WATCH is the Washington State Patrol’s public criminal-history service.

4. What information appears in a public WATCH report?

Public WATCH information can include Washington conviction information, qualifying arrests less than one year old with dispositions pending, and information relating to registered sex and kidnapping offenders. Vacated cases, sealed records and misdemeanor traffic violations are excluded from ordinary public results.

5. Can I see my own non-conviction Washington criminal history?

Yes. WSP permits the record subject to inspect their complete Washington criminal-history information in person in Olympia after fingerprint identification. WSP also currently offers a mailed personal non-conviction CHRI copy process using fingerprints.

6. Where do I find a person currently in a Washington State prison?

Use the Washington Department of Corrections Incarcerated Search. County-jail detainees should be searched through the appropriate county or local jail instead.

7. Does Washington have a statewide warrant search?

Washington DOC publishes a Secretary’s Warrant Search for qualifying people under DOC jurisdiction, but it is not a database of every arrest warrant issued by every Washington court. Other warrants should be verified with the court and responsible law-enforcement agency.

8. Does vacating a Washington conviction remove the court case from every search?

No. Washington distinguishes vacating a conviction from sealing the court record. A vacated case can remain searchable in court indexes with its status changed to show that the conviction was vacated.

9. Can non-conviction information be deleted from Washington criminal-history records?

Some qualifying non-conviction information can be deleted under RCW 10.97.060 after applicable waiting periods and when statutory conditions are satisfied. WSP provides a request process for qualifying records.

10. Are federal criminal cases included in Washington court or WATCH searches?

No. Federal criminal court cases are separate. Use PACER for cases filed in the federal Eastern or Western District of Washington.