COVID-19 Impacts to King County District Court
To help keep the public and our employees safe, King County District Court operations are substantially curtailed due to COVID-19, pursuant to the following orders of the court’s chief presiding judge:
- Emergency Administrative Order No. 4-2020, issued March 20, 2020
- Emergency Administrative Order No. 3-2020, issued March 19, 2020
- Emergency Administrative Order No. 2-2020, issued March 16, 2020
- Emergency Administrative Order No. 1-2020, issued March 12, 2020
Details on changes in court services are in the above emergency orders. See the links farther below on this page for a summary of how these changes impact you. Check back often as this information changes frequently as the pandemic evolves.
Please do not come into any King County District Court courthouse if you are:
- Sick or experiencing flu-like symptoms such as a cough, fever or other respiratory problem
- In a high-risk category for COVID-19
- Over 60
- Pregnant
- Have underlying health conditions, including heart disease, lung disease, diabetes, weakened immune system or are on immunosuppressant drugs
For any other questions, please call us at (206) 205-9200.
Click links below for information on the following topics to learn how the closure and reduced court operations impact you:
Reduced service hours
Effective March 23, 2020, through April 27, 2020, or further order of the court, the following King County District Court Clerk’s Offices will have reduced service hours, for limited customer service, staff permitting. These locations will only be open between 8:30 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. Monday through Friday for emergency situations concerning physical harm to persons or property:
- KCDC – Bellevue – 1309 114th Ave SE, Suite 100
- KCDC – Maleng Regional Justice Center (MRJC) in Kent – 401 4th Ave. N
- KCDC – Seattle – King County Courthouse in Seattle, 516 Third Avenue, Room E-327
If you need any of the above limited emergency services, please call (206) 205-9200 before coming to the court, and to check if the services can be done via electronic, telephonic or video means, and to confirm any restrictions on entry into the courthouse that may be in place.
The above courthouses are only open to case participants, such as parties, lawyers, witnesses, court staff, and interpreters. Upon request, the general public will be provided a copy of the audio recording of these proceedings at no charge.
Closures
The following King County District Court locations will remain closed until at least April 27, 2020, or further order of the court:
- KCDC – Auburn – 340 E. Main St., Suite 101
- KCDC – Burien – 601 SW 149th St
- KCDC – Issaquah – 5415 220th Ave SE
- KCDC – Redmond – 8601 160th Ave NE
- KCDC – Shoreline – 18050 Meridian Avenue N
- KCDC – Vashon – 10011 SW Bank Road
The emergency orders apply to the following King County District Court (KCDC) locations:
- KCDC – Auburn – 340 E. Main St., Suite 101
- KCDC – Bellevue – 1309 114th Ave SE, Suite 100
- KCDC – Burien – 601 SW 149th St
- KCDC – Issaquah – 5415 220th Ave SE
- KCDC – Maleng Regional Justice Center (MRJC) in Kent – 401 4th Ave. N
- KCDC – Redmond – 8601 160th Ave NE
- KCDC – Seattle – Room E-327 and 3rd floor district courtrooms located on the East wing of the King County Courthouse in Seattle
- KCDC – Shoreline – 18050 Meridian Avenue N
- KCDC – Vashon – 10011 SW Bank Road
- KCDC – Office of the Presiding Judge – Room 1034 of the King County Courthouse in Seattle
The orders also apply to all cases filed into King County District Court by the following cities – Auburn, Beaux Arts, Bellevue, Burien, Carnation, Covington, Duvall, Kenmore, Redmond, Sammamish, Shoreline, Skykomish and Vashon Island.
Effective March 23, 2020, through April 27, 2020, or further order of the court, King County District Court will hear in-custody criminal matters, including for Mental Health Court and Veteran’s Court, where charges were brought by the State of Washington at the King County Correctional Facility (Seattle Jail) and at the Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent (Courtroom GB only). The following hearings shall also be scheduled on these same calendars:
- Second appearance returns where the defendant is out of custody
- Orders to Surrender Firearms issued on criminal cases that require a review hearing
- All Competency Order Hearings pursuant to Chapter 10.77 RCW for persons who are in custody
Effective March 23, 2020, SCORE and other City in-custody matters will be heard in the following locations:
- City of Shoreline, Kenmore, Redmond, Bellevue, Sammamish, Duvall, Skykomish, and Beaux Arts at the Bellevue Courthouse
- City of Auburn, Burien, and Covington at the Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent
Essential Criminal Complaints, Agreed Criminal Motions, time sensitive Civil Complaints where the statute of limitations will expire within 90 days, Motions for Extension of Judgment, and all other Emergency Motions of a time sensitive nature related to Criminal or Civil Matters, including vehicle impounds where the vehicle is still in impound and animal or property seizure hearings will be accepted and reviewed via email. All such filings should be emailed to: KCDCCourtFilings@Kingcounty.gov.
Please refer to Section E of Emergency Administrative Order No. 4-2020, issued March 20, 2020, for details on new petitions for Domestic Violence Protection Orders, Sexual Assault Protection Orders and Anti-Harassment and non-domestic related Stalking Orders.
All King County District Court Community Court operations are closed until April 27, 2020, or further order of the court. All hearings scheduled from March 17, 2020, through April 24, 2020, will be rescheduled and notice will be mailed.
The following three community resource centers are closed until further notice, pending resolution of the COVID-19 emergency:
- Burien Community Resource Center held at the Burien Community Center Mondays, 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
- Redmond Community Resource Center held at the Redmond Library Wednesdays, 1:30 – 3:30 p.m.
- Shoreline Community Resource Center held at Shoreline City Hall Tuesdays 1:30 – 3:30 p.m.
Hearings on all civil matters, including small claims, scheduled between March 13, 2020, and at least April 24, 2020, will be rescheduled or will need to be re-noted by the parties when the court is able to resume full operations.
All King County District Court in-person hearings, except emergency order hearings, will be postponed and rescheduled by the court clerks to another date. Notice of rescheduled hearings from the court will be sent via US mail. If your mailing address needs to be updated with the court, please call us at (206) 205-9200.
If you are scheduled for a Full Order hearing, please call the court at (206) 205-9200 at least 24 business hours prior to the hearing to see if you can appear by telephone, instead of in-person.
King County District Court is suspending all jury summons effective March 17, 2020, until April 27, 2020. All jury trials scheduled from March 17, 2020, to April 24, 2020 will be continued to a later date. If you previously were summoned for service during this time, the court will be contacting you. People with questions regarding jury service at King County District Court can call the court’s Jury Coordinator Line at (206) 477-1730.
Interpreters with questions can call the KCDC Interpreter Coordinator Line at (206) 477-1760 or email InterpreterCoordinator.KCDC@kingcounty.gov.
King County District Court is suspending all probation (including City of Bellevue cases) on all post disposition matters until April 27, 2020, or further order of the court. Any supervision/jurisdictional time will be tolled during this suspension. Defendants with scheduled probation appointments prior to that time will be rescheduled and new notice will be mailed.
Processing of passport applications at all King County District Court locations is suspended until further order of the court. For assistance with passport applications, please call the Seattle Passport Office at (877) 487-2778 or visit travel.state.gov for more information.
King County District Court will continue its after-hours search warrant procedures. Law enforcement may call the court at (206) 205-9200 Monday through Friday between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. for judicial review of search warrants. Law Enforcement shall file search warrant returns at the following email address: KCDCSearchWarrants@kingcounty.gov through April 24, 2020 or further order of the court.