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Historical Court and Legal Records
How to Use This Guide
This guide contains information on historical court records at King County Archives and how to research them. You will also find the following information:
- What specific court records King County Archives holds.
- How to access the court records held by King County Archives.
- How to find and access court records not held by King County Archives.
Need a divorce decree?
Order divorce decree records dated 1853 to the present through King County Superior Court.
Need a name change document?
Order name change records dated 1853 to July 31, 1991, through King County Superior Court.
Order name change records dated August 1, 1991, to the present through the King County Recorder's Office.
Please use the navigational tabs below to browse this guide and locate the informational sections most relevant to your research.
In 1889, Washington achieved statehood, and the Washington State Constitution created the state judicial system and designated the Superior Court as the trial court of general and unlimited jurisdiction. The King County Superior Court succeeded the federal Third Territorial District Court, which existed from 1853 to 1889.
Superior Court Records at the Superior Court
King County Superior Court holds all case files from 1853 to the present. These records are permanent. To access Superior Court indexes and case files and order copies, please contact the Superior Court Clerk's Office.
Court case files dated 1979 and later are indexed and available to order online through the court records access portal.
King County Archives holds few Superior Court records, and we do not hold case files. The following is a list of what we do have.
Index of Licenses of Physicians, Optometrists, Chiropodists and Midwives, 1890-1980
This index lists medical and professional licenses issued by the state and presented to the King County Superior Court Clerk for registration as a prerequisite to practice in the county. It includes the name of the licensee, nature of the license, license number, date of issue, date of filing, whether an original, certified copy or a renewal, and sometimes volume and page number. The index is organized alphabetically by the licensee's surname.
Juvenile Court Annual Reports, 1911-1974
Washington's superior courts were granted original jurisdiction over all juvenile cases in 1905. This series is composed of annual narrative and statistical reports from 1911 to 1974 of the programs and activities of King County's juvenile court.
During this period, activities of the court included both its legal functions and its social work with delinquent and dependent youth and their families. Early reports (1911-1930) stress the court's social work by including special reports and commentaries on causative pathologies, case studies, and parental and governmental responsibilities to youth.
A separate report section documented activities of the Mothers' Pension Department (1913-1937), which dispersed cash and material assistance to female-headed families with dependent children prior to the federalization of this program. Reports from this period are frequently illustrated with photographs of court and custodial facilities, building plans (1915) and personnel. No reports were apparently printed for the years 1931-1935, but statistical summaries for this period are present.
Between 1936 and 1958, reports primarily consisted of tabulated statistics. In the 1940s, data for several years were sometimes combined into one report; no report was published for 1953. Beginning in 1959, court statistics were again accompanied by narrative commentary, and sometimes by photographs and graphics.
The expansion of the Youth Service Center in Seattle's Central Area and the role of the Juvenile Court in the relocation of neighborhood residents are reflected in reports from the 1960s. The court's social work programs were largely transferred to County Executive departments after 1974.
