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Apr
18

LGR 31. Access to Court Records

Local General Rule

(d) Access.

(2) Public online document review through the Clerk’s electronic records system shall be restricted to cases filed on or after November 1, 2004 and limited to the case types listed in (i) through (v). These restrictions do not apply to onsite access in the clerk’s office, to King County agencies, to government agencies approved by the clerk, to parties to a case, and to attorneys of record.

(i) All criminal cases, defined as those categorized with a number 1 as the third digit of the case number;

(ii) All civil cases, defined as those categorized with a number 2 as the third digit of the case number, with the exceptions of petitions for domestic violence protection orders and petitions for antiharassment protection orders;

(iii) All family law cases, defined as those categorized with a number 3 as the third digit of the case number and the unsealed portions of those cases categorized with a number 5 as a third digit.

(iv) All probate and guardianship cases, defined as those cases categorized with a number 4 as the third digit of the case number.

(v) Miscellaneous public records kept by the clerk and categorized with a 0 as the third digit of the case number.

(f) Distribution of Court Records Not Publicly Accessible

(2) Investigations by the Judicial Conduct Commission: Access to Sealed Files and Documents

(A) Confidential Use: Upon request, the clerk of the court shall provide copies of or otherwise describe the contents of sealed files to a representative of the State Commission on Judicial Conduct, who is conducting a confidential investigation pursuant to Wa Const. Art. IV sec.31.

(B) Public Use: No materials in a sealed file may be made public, unless the Commission has first obtained an order pursuant to GR 15 and LCR 79(d)(5). Motions to obtain such an order shall be made to the Presiding Judge.

Official Comment

  1. Procedures, terms and conditions for on-line access are available in the clerk’s office and online at www.kingcounty.gov/courts/clerk.

[Adopted effective November 5, 2004; amended September 1, 2005; February 23, 2006; September 1, 2015; September 1, 2016; September 1, 2018, September 1, 2019; September 1, 2020; September 1, 2021; September 1, 2022.]



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