How to Search Yakima County Court Records
Yakima County court records sit in two main official tools. The first is the statewide search run by the Administrative Office of the Courts. It indexes cases from municipal, district, superior, and appellate courts across Washington. The second is the Odyssey Portal, which holds the most current Superior Court files. For Yakima Superior Court matters, the state points users to Odyssey for up-to-date data. The free statewide search is a fine first stop. It warns, though, that some dockets, judgments, or document links may not show right, and case status can lag.
Get your details together before you start. A full legal name helps. A case number helps more. A basic search costs nothing. You may pay later if you order copies from the clerk. You can run the statewide tool on the Washington Courts case search terms page, which lays out the terms you accept first.
The terms page also names Odyssey as the route for the most current Yakima Superior Court records.
Read those terms once so you know what the results do and do not prove. Here is the basic order most searches follow.
- Open the Washington Courts case search and accept the terms.
- Choose a court level: District and Municipal, Superior, or Appellate.
- Choose a search type: by name, by case number, or by business name.
- Pick the court, such as Yakima County Superior Court, and add a case type or year filed to narrow results.
- Enter a first and last name, a business name, or a case number, then click Search.
- For full Yakima Superior Court details, open the Odyssey Portal or ask the clerk for the complete record.
A name-only search returns more than a name plus year. The statewide search runs a person lookup too, where first and last name are required and a middle name narrows the list. You can see this on the Washington Courts person search form.
Use the person search when you want every case tied to one name across courts. Add the middle name if you have it.
For a future court date in a district or municipal case, use Find My Court Date. It queries the live court database, the same one court staff use, so it can run slow from 7:00 AM to 6:00 PM. You can open it on the Washington Courts Find My Court Date page.
Pick the Yakima court, type the name, and you get upcoming calendar dates. For full case files, see Yakima County court dockets.
Yakima County Court Records Search Fields
The statewide case search form changes a bit by court level. You pick a court level, then a search type, then fill the matching fields. For a name search the first and last name are required. For a case-number search the case number is required. For a business search the business name is required. The court name dropdown lists Yakima County Superior Court plus the local district and municipal courts. A case type and a year filed help cut a long result list down.
| Field Label | Type | Required | Notes / Format |
|---|---|---|---|
| Select Court Level | Option | Yes | District and Municipal, Superior, or Appellate Courts. |
| Select Search Type | Option | Yes | By name, by case number, or by business name. |
| Court Name | Dropdown | Yes | Includes Yakima County Superior Court, Yakima District Court, and local municipal courts. |
| Case Type | Dropdown | No | Civil, Criminal, Domestic, Probate/Guardianship, and more by court level. |
| Year Filed In/After | Dropdown | No | Runs from 1975 through 2026. |
| First Name | Text | For name search | Required when you search by person name. |
| Last Name | Text | For name search | Required when you search by person name. |
| Business Name | Text | For business search | Required when you search by business. |
| Case Number | Text | For number search | Required when you search by case number. |
Odyssey uses a Smart Search box instead. You type a case number or a party name in Last, First Middle format and clear a robot check. Advanced filters add court location, case type, case status, file date range, judicial officer, and attorney name or bar number. Wildcards work with an asterisk, but a last name needs at least three letters and a case number at least four. Results show only the first 200 rows, so a tight search beats a broad one.
Note: The statewide case search updates once a day at 3:00 AM, so a brand new filing may not appear until the next morning.
Types of Yakima County Court Records
Court records here split by the court that made them. Superior Court holds the heavier cases. District Court and the city municipal courts hold the day-to-day ones. The Clerk of Superior Court keeps the Superior Court files. District Court keeps its own. Marriage licenses are not court records at all and come from the County Auditor. Knowing which court made a record tells you where to look and what may be public.
Yakima County Superior Court civil files cover contracts, property rights, evictions, torts, malpractice, and damages. District Court civil files cover money disputes up to $100,000, small claims up to $5,000, garnishments, and name changes. The main groups break down like this.
- Criminal records - felonies in Superior Court; misdemeanors and gross misdemeanors in District and Municipal Courts. See arrest records.
- Civil records - contracts, property, evictions, and torts in Superior Court; smaller money cases in District Court.
- Family and divorce records - divorce, legal separation, custody, and parentage in Superior Court. See marriage and divorce records.
- Probate and guardianship - estates, wills, and guardianships in Superior Court. See probate records.
- Traffic and infractions - tickets and criminal traffic in District and Municipal Courts. See traffic court records.
- Appeals - reviews from Municipal and District Courts move up to Superior Court, then to Court of Appeals Division III.
The Clerk also handles dependency, mental illness, adoption, and juvenile offender matters, though most of those stay closed to the public.
What Yakima County Court Records Show
A Yakima County court record holds the facts the court used to track and decide a case. The exact fields depend on the court and the case type. Most records share a core: who filed, when, what the case is about, and how it ended. Odyssey groups a case into Case information, Party, Disposition Events, and Events and Hearings. The search results list each case by a few key columns before you open the full file.
| Field | What It Shows |
|---|---|
| Case Number | The official ID for the case; used to pull the full file. |
| File Date | The date the case opened with the court. |
| Type | Civil, criminal, domestic, probate, or another case category. |
| Location | The court that holds the case, such as Yakima County Superior Court. |
| Party Name | Plaintiff and defendant, or petitioner and respondent. |
| Disposition | The recorded outcome of a charge, claim, or motion. |
Open the full file and you can also see attorneys, the judicial officer, hearing dates, fines, restitution, warrants, subpoenas, writs, and judgments. The Disposition Events section shows how each charge or claim ended. The Events and Hearings section lists the steps in date order. A charge is not the same as a conviction. A charge is what the State claims. A conviction is a plea or finding that the person did it. The disposition line tells you which is which.
Some items stay hidden no matter how you search. Sealed pleadings, personal identifiers, and confidential case types do not display in the public view. Washington Courts also warns that its case search is not a criminal background check, since results can be incomplete and identity is not confirmed.
Public Access Framework for Yakima County Court Records
Washington treats court records and ordinary public records under different rules, and that trips up many people. County departments fall under the Public Records Act. The courts do not. Court case files follow court General Rules instead. So a request sent to the wrong office gets bounced. Pick the right rule first, then send your request to the office that holds the record.
Court case records are open under General Rule 31 unless a law, rule, or court order restricts them. Court administrative records, such as budgets and policies, use General Rule 31.1 instead. County office records, like deeds and business filings, fall under the Public Records Act at RCW 42.56. Jail roster data is public under RCW 70.48.100, but most other jail records are not. Clerk copy fees trace to RCW 36.18.016.
Anyone may view open court records. You do not have to give a reason or prove a need. For an official criminal history, though, the court file is the wrong source. The Washington State Patrol keeps statewide criminal-history records under RCW 10.97. For more on county requests, fees, and timelines, see the Yakima County public records page.
Note: A Public Records Act request will not get you a Superior Court case file, since the Act covers county offices but not the courts themselves.
Records That Are Sealed or Confidential in Yakima County
Not every Yakima County court record is open. The Clerk of Superior Court is clear about which case types stay closed. Dependency files are sealed and not open to the public. Mental illness cases are confidential. Adoption files are sealed so tightly that the clerk needs a court order even to say whether a case exists. Paternity matters stay confidential until the parentage order is entered. Juvenile records carry their own limits under state law, and personal identifiers like Social Security numbers are kept out of public view.
Juvenile justice and care records are governed by their own chapter of state law. You can read it at RCW 13.50, which sets when juvenile records may be released and to whom.
That chapter is why most juvenile offender and dependency files do not show up in a public search. Mental illness and involuntary treatment cases follow a separate statute.
Behavioral health proceedings are confidential and not public record. The governing chapter is posted at RCW 71.05, which covers involuntary treatment and the privacy of those files.
To view a sealed record, a person usually must be a party, an attorney of record, or hold a court order. Sealed or confidential pleadings are released only on a judge's order, and often on paper rather than by email, since internet transmission is not secured. A photo ID may be asked for. Washington often uses the word "vacate" rather than "expunge" for cleaning up a conviction. Felony vacation follows RCW 9.94A.640, while misdemeanor vacation follows RCW 9.96.060. A vacated conviction does not erase every copy on file.
In-Person and Copy Requests in Yakima County
Some files are easier to get in person, and certified copies almost always require a request to the clerk. Most court offices share one downtown building, so the room number matters as much as the street. Bring a photo ID, the case number if you have it, and a way to pay. The Clerk of Superior Court charges set fees for copies and searches, and paper copies cost more than emailed ones. If staff must dig through old files, a research fee applies by the hour.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Paper copy per page | $0.50 ($1 minimum) |
| Electronic copy per page | $0.25 ($1 minimum) |
| Certified copy | $5 first page, $1 each added page |
| Exemplified copy | $9 first page, $1 each added page |
| Records search / research | $20 per hour of staff time |
Filing fees are separate from copy fees. The Superior Court page explains how new cases are filed, classified, and scanned into the imaging system. You can read it on the county's General Filing Information page.
That page is useful when you plan to file rather than just search. District Court keeps its own fee list, separate from the Superior Court clerk's.
District Court copy and certification fees, plus civil and small-claims filing fees, are posted on the county's District Court fees page.
Use it for a traffic or misdemeanor copy, since those records live in District Court rather than with the Superior Court clerk.
Clerk of Superior Court
128 N 2nd Street, Room 323
Yakima, WA 98901
509-574-1430
Mon-Fri 8:00 AM-4:30 PM
District Court - Yakima
128 N 2nd Street, Room 225
Yakima, WA 98901
509-574-1804
Records: 509-574-1848