Access Court Records

Most court records are public records and available for public viewing at no cost in the Clerk’s Office during business hours. 

Court records defined by law, court rules, or individual court ordered sealed, confidential, or otherwise restricted from public access are not accessible unless permitted by law, court rule or court order. If you have legal authorization or a court order to access a confidential or sealed court record, a valid government picture ID is required. Court records are not subject to the Washington State Public Records Act.

Copies of documents, recordings and other court records are available for purchase pursuant to the Clerk’s Fee Schedule. We do not accept requests for printed or recorded court records over the phone. They must be ordered online, requested by mail or in person.

The following options are available for requesting or accessing court case information and copies of court case documents/records:

Online:

Washington State Digital Archives

Click here to purchase Snohomish County Superior Court records online through the Washington State Digital Archives. You must have your case number.

Odyssey Portal Subscription

If you are a frequent user, an annual fee-based subscription service to access the Clerk’s Electronic Court Records Management System (Odyssey Portal) is available.Click here for more information.

If you would like to search publicly available Snohomish County Superior Court case information only, you may do so at no cost using Odyssey Portal - Washington Courts Online Case Search or by visiting the Clerk’s Office.

In Person:

The public access area located at the Clerk’s office in Room M-206 offers customers the option to view publicly available court records for free. 

To print documents, there is a charge of $.25 per page for regular copies.  Certified copies of documents cost $5.00 for the first page and $1.00 for each additional page. Records requests can also be saved onto a CD, rather than printing. The cost for this option is $20 for the CD and then $.25 per page and a mailing fee of $2.50 per CD.

We accept payment via debit/credit card (with valid photo ID), cash, cashier’s check or money order. Personal checks are not accepted.

By Mail:

Please mail a completed Copy Request Form to the Clerk’s Office specifying the case information and documents that you want to purchase.  Make sure to include a daytime phone number and/or email address where we can contact you if we have any questions and a self-addressed stamped envelope to return the documents in.

The cost for printed documents is $.25 per page for regular copies.  Certified copies of documents cost $5.00 for the first page and $1.00 for each additional page. Records requests can also be saved onto a CD, rather than printing. The cost for this option is $20 for a CD and then $.25 per page and a mailing fee of $2.50 per CD.

If you do not know the number of pages/documents for your request, please contact the Clerk’s Customer Service division at contact.clerk@snoco.org or 425-388-3466. 

When requesting copies by mail, you must include the case number and party information.  Payment in the form of a cashier’s check or money order payable to Snohomish County Clerk (personal checks are not accepted) and a self-addressed stamped envelope sufficient to cover the return postage of the requested documents must also be included with the request. 

Requests will be mailed out once payment has been received in full.

Recorded Court Hearings:

Court hearings may be reported by a traditional court reporter or recorded electronically. The court minutes for the hearing will indicate the method of reporting or recording. If a court reporter was present at the court hearing, the court reporter is the only person available to prepare a verbatim transcript of the reported proceeding. To obtain a transcript from a court reporter, contact Superior Court Administration.

To request a digital audio recording of a public hearing that was recorded, please click here. Audio recordings are $25 per hearing date pursuant to RCW 36.18.016(13).

Sealed court records access requires court approval and proof of identification. If the audio from a court proceeding is sealed or from a juvenile case, you must appear in person to request and, if authorized to access the case, provide valid government issued picture ID and payment for the request.

Please call our main office at 425-388-3466 for more information on access to audio from sealed court proceedings. Please contact the Juvenile Clerk's Office for more information on access to audio from juvenile court proceedings at 425-388-7978.

Research Request:

Historical or exceptional searches require research by our staff. Most cases that occurred prior to 1978 will require research. If you are unsure whether your request will require research, please contact our office at 425-388-3466 to confirm. To request research, complete the Research Request Form. Per RCW 36.18.016, the fee for this service is $30.00 per hour. You can complete the request in our office or you can mail the request along with payment in the form of money order or cashier's check made payable to Snohomish County Clerk. You may be contacted for additional sums if your request exceeds the funds originally collected. Requests will be mailed or available for pick-up once payment has been made in full. Please allow 10 business days for requests to be processed and ready for pick-up or mailing.