Arrest Records in Yakima County
Arrest records are made by law enforcement, not by the courts. In Yakima County the two main agencies are the Yakima County Sheriff's Office and the Yakima County Department of Corrections. The Sheriff, Robert Udell, runs patrol, investigations, collision reports, and public records requests. The Department of Corrections runs the county jail at 111 N Front Street, where people are booked, housed, and tracked on a public roster. City police departments also make arrests, and those people are often booked into the same county jail. So an arrest record can start with a deputy, a city officer, or a state trooper, but it tends to land in one place for booking.
An arrest record and a criminal court record are two different files. The arrest record covers the stop, the booking, and the time in custody. The court record starts later, only if the Prosecuting Attorney files charges. A person can be arrested and never charged. A person can be charged and never convicted. For the full case file, including pleadings, hearings, and the final outcome, the right tool is the Yakima County court records page. This page leads with the arrest side first.
How to Search Yakima County Arrest Records
The fastest way to find a recent booking is the county jail roster. The Department of Corrections keeps a public inmate roster, and it is the official source for who is in custody right now. The roster shows roster-level data only, since most other jail records are confidential by law. For court-side criminal history, the statewide Washington Courts case search and the Odyssey Portal hold case files. For a true criminal-history report, the Washington State Patrol runs a separate service. Pick the tool that matches what you need.
- Open the Yakima County Department of Corrections page and use the Inmate Lookup roster to check current custody.
- Search by name to find the booking date, ID or R number, current housing, and any planned release date.
- For charges and case outcomes, run the name through the Washington Courts case search or the Odyssey Portal.
- For an official criminal-history report, order a WATCH record from the Washington State Patrol.
You can reach the roster and jail tools on the Yakima County Department of Corrections page. For a deeper walkthrough of the lookup and what each field means, see the Yakima County inmate records page. The jail roster is the live picture. The court search and WATCH fill in what happened after the arrest.
Arrest Records vs. Criminal Court Records
The line between these two records confuses a lot of people. An arrest record is made at booking, by the Sheriff or a police agency. A criminal court record is made when the Yakima County Prosecuting Attorney files charges and the case opens with the court. One can exist without the other. An arrest may lead to no charge at all, and the booking entry can still sit in jail records even when no case was ever filed.
| Arrest Record | Criminal Court Record | |
|---|---|---|
| Source | Sheriff / Police / Jail | Court Clerk |
| Created When | Booking into custody | Charges filed by the Prosecuting Attorney |
| Contents | Booking info, roster entry, custody status | Pleadings, motions, hearings, disposition |
| Where to Find It | Jail roster, Sheriff's Office | Washington Courts search, Odyssey Portal, Clerk |
For felony charges, the State of Washington is the plaintiff and the defendant is the person charged. The Clerk of Superior Court keeps those files. District Court keeps misdemeanor and gross misdemeanor files. So one arrest can touch two different courts depending on the level of the offense.
Charges vs. Convictions
Being charged is not the same as being found guilty. A charge is an accusation. It means the State believes there is enough cause to bring the case. A conviction is a finding or a guilty plea that the person did commit the offense. Many cases never reach a conviction. Charges get dropped, dismissed, reduced, or resolved through a diversion or treatment track. The disposition line in a court record is what tells you how a charge actually ended.
| Charge | Conviction | |
|---|---|---|
| Stage | Accusation by the State | Verdict or guilty plea |
| Burden of Proof | Probable cause | Beyond a reasonable doubt |
| Public Record | Yes, where not sealed | Yes, where not vacated |
| Final? | No, case is still open | Yes, unless appealed or vacated |
Washington Courts warns that its case search is not a background check and may be incomplete or out of date. A charge shown there does not prove guilt. Read the disposition before you assume anything about how a case ended.
Note: A booking on a roster reflects an arrest only, so it cannot show whether the person was later charged, cleared, or convicted.
Sealed vs. Vacated Records
Washington usually does not use the word "expunge" for adult convictions. The state term is "vacate." When a court vacates a conviction, it changes how the record is treated and lets the person say, in many settings, that they were not convicted. Sealing is different. A sealed record is closed from public view but still exists. Felony vacation runs under one statute, and misdemeanor or gross misdemeanor vacation runs under another. Yakima County District Court links to a "Vacate a Record of Conviction" resource and to State v. Blake information.
| Sealed | Vacated | |
|---|---|---|
| What Happens | Record closed from public access | Conviction set aside; treated as dismissed |
| Record Still Exists? | Yes, but hidden | Yes, but consequences are released |
| Law Enforcement Access | Limited access remains | Limited; agency copies may persist |
| Washington Statute | Court rule or order | RCW 9.94A.640 (felony); RCW 9.96.060 (misdemeanor) |
You can read the felony vacation rules on the Washington Legislature page for RCW 9.94A.640.
That statute sets the limits on which felony convictions can be vacated and when. The misdemeanor side has its own rule and its own waiting periods.
Misdemeanor and gross misdemeanor vacation is covered by RCW 9.96.060, which most often applies to District Court convictions.
A person seeking relief usually files in the court of conviction and must show statutory eligibility. Vacation does not always erase every agency or private copy.
Mugshots and Booking Photos
People often expect a mugshot with every arrest record. In Yakima County that expectation does not hold. The county Jail Records page is direct: the public jail roster is public-release information, but most other inmate jail records, including booking photos, are confidential and exempt from disclosure under RCW 70.48.100. So the public roster shows custody data, not a booking photo.
To get records beyond the roster, the rules are strict. Non-medical inmate records need an Authorization for Release of Inmate Records, signed by the inmate, or a court order. The booking photo is treated as part of those restricted records. This is a meaningful local detail, since many other states release mugshots freely. Yakima County does not.
Prosecutor and Defense in Yakima County
After an arrest, two offices shape what happens next. The Yakima County Prosecuting Attorney decides whether to file charges and represents the State of Washington. The Clerk page describes the State as the plaintiff and the defendant as the adult alleged to have committed the offense. Victims of crimes are represented by the Prosecuting Attorney, whose work is funded through state and county tax revenue.
You can reach the office on the Yakima County Prosecuting Attorney page.
That office is where charging decisions and criminal case prosecution are handled for the county.
A defendant who cannot afford a lawyer gets court-appointed counsel, often called a public defender. Yakima County handles this through assigned counsel. The defendant requests counsel through the court hearing the case and may need to complete financial eligibility forms.
The Yakima County Assigned Counsel page covers indigent defense resources.
District Court and Superior Court may follow different appointment steps, so ask the court that holds the case.
Washington Criminal History Records
For an official statewide criminal-history report, the court case search is the wrong tool. Washington Courts says so itself. The state criminal-history record is held by the Washington State Patrol, and the public route to it is the WATCH service. WATCH returns conviction data and pending charges in a more reliable form than a county-by-county case search.
Criminal-history record information is governed by the Criminal Records Privacy Act. You can read it on the Washington Legislature page for RCW 10.97.
That law controls what criminal-history information can be released and to whom. Federal arrests are handled apart from the county. Federal cases in this area run through the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Washington.
The U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Washington page covers federal prosecutions that arrests in Yakima County may feed into.
Federal custody is searched through the Bureau of Prisons locator, not the county jail roster.
Background Check Considerations
There is a real gap between a casual lookup and a legal background check. A roster search or a court-record search is fine for personal use. A background check used for hiring, housing, credit, or insurance is regulated by the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Those checks must come from a compliant consumer reporting agency, with notice and consent. The WATCH report and the court search do not replace an FCRA-compliant report.
Arrest data is also easy to misread. An arrest is not a conviction. Charges get dropped. Records get vacated. Using a raw arrest entry to judge someone for a job or a lease can be both unfair and unlawful.
Important: This site is not a consumer reporting agency under the FCRA, and its information may not be used for employment, tenant, credit, or insurance screening.
Restricted Arrest and Criminal Records in Yakima County
Not every arrest or criminal record is open. Several categories stay closed by law. Juvenile offender records carry special limits under state juvenile statutes. Booking photos and most jail records beyond the public roster are confidential. Jail medical records need a signed health-care authorization or a judge's order. Sealed or confidential pleadings are released only on a court order, and often only on paper because internet transmission is not secure.
Some court case types are sealed outright. Dependency files, mental illness cases, and adoption files are not open to the public. Paternity matters stay confidential until the parentage order is entered. For the rules on which court records are public and which are restricted, see the Yakima County court records page. For the live custody picture, the inmate records page covers the roster.