Search Pierce County Court Records

How to Search Pierce County Court Records

The main search tool for Pierce County is LINX, the Legal Information Network Exchange. Pierce County built LINX locally and runs it for Superior Court case management. The public account gives free access to case records, documents, attorneys, charges, proceedings, court calendars, and the current jail roster. More than 8,000 public account users rely on LINX. It covers Superior Court directly and links to the statewide Find My Court Date system for district and municipal court proceedings.

Before you start, decide whether the case likely belongs to Superior Court or District Court. Felonies, divorce, probate, guardianship, family matters, major civil suits, and tax warrants usually go to Superior Court. Misdemeanors, gross misdemeanors, infractions, small claims, name changes, anti-harassment matters, and limited civil cases usually go to District Court. A cause number gives the fastest result. If you only have a name, enter it as last name first, then first name.

The Washington Court system overview helps explain which tier handles each case type. The Washington AOC court structure article explains that trial courts are not unified and that Superior Courts and courts of limited jurisdiction are administered separately.

That structure matters when you decide whether to search LINX for a Superior Court case or to use Find My Court Date for a District or municipal court proceeding.

1. Go to the LINX search page, not a third-party site. Choose Superior Court or District Court depending on the likely case type.
2. Enter the cause number if you have it. LINX accepts the format with dashes (02-1-12345-1) or without dashes (021123451). Either works.
3. If you are searching by name, enter last name, first name. The system uses "Smith, John" as its own example.
4. Set a year range. The public form currently exposes 1980 through 2026. A narrow range cuts down long result lists.
5. Select a case type. For Superior Court, options are Criminal, Civil, Domestic, Probate/Guardianship, and Tax Warrant/Judgment. For District Court, options are Criminal, Civil, and Infraction.
6. Review the case list and click into a result. LINX shows attorneys, charges, docket entries, proceedings, and judgments. For documents filed after January 1, 2002, you can access, pay for, view, and print copies online through LINX.
7. For documents filed January 1991 through December 2001 that are not yet imaged, submit the Scan Document request. The Clerk says those documents will be available for purchase through LINX within two business days.
8. For records filed before January 1991, call the Clerk's Office directly at 253-798-7455. Those files are not in LINX.

The Washington Courts guide to Superior Courts explains the Superior Court's broad jurisdiction and how county clerks maintain the official record for each case.

Superior Courts have no limit on civil or criminal case types, which is why most Pierce County court records for felonies, dissolution, probate, and major civil matters sit in that tier.

Pierce County LINX Search Fields

LINX uses the same search form for both Superior Court and District Court, but the Type field options differ. The table below covers the Superior Court search, which is the most common starting point for Pierce County court records. All fields are optional as long as you fill in at least one search term, either a cause number or a name.

For District Court, the Type field switches to Criminal, Civil, and Infraction. District Court Criminal covers misdemeanors, gross misdemeanors, and criminal-traffic cases. District Court Infraction covers citations such as speeding, photo enforcement, seat belt violations, and parking tickets. District Court Civil covers anti-harassment protection orders, small claims, name changes, and limited-civil damages.

Note: LINX does not search municipal court proceedings. Use the statewide Find My Court Date system for district and municipal court dates, including Tacoma Municipal Court cases.

Types of Pierce County Court Records

Pierce County court records come from several courts, and the record type depends on where the case was filed. Superior Court holds the broadest range. District Court holds limited-jurisdiction civil and criminal files. Municipal courts hold city cases. Juvenile Court is a division of Superior Court with its own access rules. The sections below outline what falls under each category.

LINX groups Superior Court cases into five types and District Court cases into three. Tax Warrant/Judgment is a less obvious category, but it covers unpaid state taxes and court-ordered payment judgments, which are indexed like other civil matters and can be searched by name or cause number. Domestic cases in LINX are family-law matters, not all domestic situations, so a dissolution or parenting-plan case goes there rather than under Civil.

• Criminal records - felony cases in Superior Court (from arrest or criminal activity, with charges, pleas, and judgments); misdemeanors and gross misdemeanors in District Court. See Pierce County arrest records for booking and arrest-report details.
• Civil records - commercial litigation, collections, evictions, personal injury, contract disputes, and domestic violence civil matters in Superior Court; small claims, anti-harassment orders, and limited civil in District Court.
• Domestic and family records - dissolution, legal separation, invalidity of marriage, third-party custody, and parenting plans in Superior Court. Access is narrower than ordinary civil because General Rule 22 restricts some financial source documents and sensitive personal data.
• Probate and guardianship records - estates, wills, guardianship of incapacitated adults, and guardianship of minor children. All filed as Superior Court case types in Washington.
• Traffic and infraction records - speeding, photo enforcement, failure to have liability insurance, seat belt violations, and parking citations in District Court Infraction; city citations in municipal courts. See Pierce County traffic court records for more.

What Pierce County Court Records Show

A Pierce County court record is built around the cause number, the local case identifier. When you open a case in LINX, you see the case title, case type, party names, attorneys, and charges, plus the full docket. The docket is a chronological list of all filings, orders, hearings, and events. Reading it from the earliest entry upward shows how the case developed. The table below covers the fields you are most likely to encounter.

Some details are withheld. Sealed records, family-law financial source documents, juvenile data, medical or mental-health records, and personal identifiers may be redacted under court rule, statute, or individual order. If a field appears blank or a document is missing, the file may be restricted rather than absent.

Public Access Laws for Pierce County Court Records

Washington draws a clear line between court records and general government records. Pierce County's own court records page warns that court records are not subject to the Public Records Act, citing the cases Nast v. Michels and Spokane & Eastern Lawyer v. Tompkins. Court case records are accessed under Washington General Rule 31, which defines access as the ability to view or obtain a copy of a court record. Access under GR 31 can be limited by federal law, state law, court rule, court order, or case law. Court administrative records fall under General Rule 31.1, a related but separate rule.

County and sheriff administrative records, non-court agency files, and many government records still fall under the Public Records Act, Chapter 42.56 RCW, unless an exemption applies. A request that works for a county agency file does not work the same way for a Superior Court case file. When you want a court case copy, you go through the Clerk using the fee schedule set by RCW 36.18.016. When you want a non-court county record, you submit a public records request to the holding agency.

Fees for Superior Court copies from the Clerk are set by state statute. The table below lists what the Clerk charges. District Court has a separate fee schedule with similar but not identical rates.

The Clerk explains each copy option and older-record steps on the Request Court Records page. Mail requests need a letter with your name, contact information, case number, and document names; a cashier's check or money order; and a self-addressed stamped envelope sent to Pierce County Clerk, ATTN Records & Copies, 930 Tacoma Ave S, Room 110, Tacoma, WA 98402-2177.

Records That Are Sealed or Confidential in Pierce County

Not every Pierce County court record is open to the public. Several categories get restricted access by rule, statute, or court order. Knowing which categories are limited helps you understand why a case index might appear while specific documents do not.

• Juvenile records - governed by RCW 13.50.050. Juvenile offender and dependency files are not open adult dockets. Pierce County directs juvenile case requests to the Juvenile Court Clerk at 253-798-7973.
• Adoption records - confidential under RCW 26.33.340. Adoption files are sealed except through statutory petition processes.
• Family law source documents - General Rule 22 restricts access to financial source documents, personal health records, and sensitive personal data in family-law and guardianship cases. The case index is often searchable; the restricted documents are not viewable online.
• Mental health and civil commitment records - behavioral health treatment records are confidential under RCW 71.05.620. The Involuntary Commitment Court at Western State Hospital does not maintain ordinary public case dockets.
• Jail records and booking photos - most inmate jail records, including booking photos, are not public records. Pierce County Sheriff relies on RCW 70.48.100 to limit access to the fields listed on the public jail roster.

To view a sealed record, a party usually files a motion under General Rule 15 and shows legal grounds. The court may unseal the whole file, unseal specific documents, redact personal identifiers, or deny the motion entirely. Vacating a conviction under RCW 9.94A.640 (felony) or RCW 9.96.060 (misdemeanor) is different from sealing. A vacated conviction changes the status of that conviction, but the case history may still appear in the index. Law-enforcement and criminal-history systems must be updated according to the order.

In-Person and Mail Record Requests

Certified copies and non-certified copies can be obtained in person at the Clerk's Office, by mail, or online through LINX. In person is the fastest option for the same-day need. Mail requests work for cases where you already know the cause number and exact document names. LINX is often the cheapest option for documents filed after January 1, 2002, at $0.25 per page for non-certified copies. For any records filed before January 1991, no online path exists, and you must call the Clerk to arrange a search.

The Clerk's phone hours are shorter than walk-in hours. As of December 1, 2025, phone service runs Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Walk-in service continues through 4:30 p.m. If you call after 3:30 p.m., you will need to go in person or try again the next morning. Superior Court and District Court handle their own records separately, so a District Court case copy goes through the District Court office, not the Superior Court Clerk.

The Clerk of the Superior Court page covers e-filing, self-help resources, forms, and the full set of copy and records-request options.

Federal Court Records for Pierce County

Some cases that involve Pierce County residents go to federal court rather than state court. Pierce County is in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington. The federal courthouse in Tacoma is Union Station Courthouse, 1717 Pacific Avenue, Tacoma. The Western District handles federal criminal prosecutions, civil rights cases, diversity cases, and other federal-question matters. Appeals from that court go to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Bankruptcy cases for the Pierce County area are handled by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Washington, which has courthouses in Seattle and Tacoma. Bankruptcy case types include Chapter 7 liquidation, Chapter 13 repayment plans, Chapter 11 business reorganizations, and adversary proceedings. Bankruptcy filings are separate from Superior Court civil cases and do not appear in LINX.

The official federal online records system is PACER. The PACER home page lets you register for a federal court account. Users are charged per page for searches and document views. Fee exemptions are available for indigent persons, pro bono attorneys, and academic researchers through a request to the court.

PACER covers dockets and documents in all federal district, appellate, and bankruptcy courts, so a single account works for both the Western District trial court and the bankruptcy court.

CourtListener is a free alternative for some federal records. The CourtListener database mirrors PACER dockets and documents that users have already retrieved, making some older cases freely accessible without a PACER account.

Coverage on CourtListener is not complete, so for current or recent filings PACER remains the authoritative source.

The Western District of Washington court site lists local rules, forms, and judge information for the Tacoma courthouse.

That page also has filing guides, court calendars, and CM/ECF login for attorneys and registered filers.

For bankruptcy matters, the Western District of Washington Bankruptcy Court page provides forms, local rules, and the bankruptcy trustee directory.

Bankruptcy filings can affect civil judgments, property records, and debt collections that also appear in Pierce County Superior Court records, so both systems may be relevant for the same person.

Common Pierce County Court Record Terms

Court records use shorthand that can confuse first-time searchers. A charge is not a conviction. An arraignment is not a trial. Understanding a few basic terms helps you read a LINX docket accurately and avoid misreading a case outcome.

Cause number

The Pierce County case identifier, such as 02-1-12345-1. Every court filing is tied to this number. Enter it in LINX with or without dashes.

Disposition

The outcome of a charge or the whole case. Common dispositions include guilty plea, not guilty verdict, dismissal with prejudice, dismissal without prejudice, and deferred sentence. Dismissed with prejudice generally cannot be refiled; dismissed without prejudice may be.

Docket

The chronological list of all filings, orders, and hearings in a case. Reading from the first entry forward shows how a case developed over time.

Judgment

A court's final or enforceable decision, often involving a money amount in civil cases or a sentence in criminal cases.

Vacate

Washington's process to clear certain conviction records under RCW 9.94A.640 (felony) or RCW 9.96.060 (misdemeanor). A vacated conviction may still appear in the case index while the conviction status changes.

Bench warrant

A warrant issued by a judge, often for failure to appear at a scheduled hearing.

Note: Concurrent sentences and consecutive sentences are different. Two concurrent 10-day sentences result in 10 days served total. Two consecutive 10-day sentences result in 20 days served total.

Related Pierce County Record Searches

Court records connect to several other Pierce County record types. If you are tracking a case that started with an arrest, Pierce County arrest records cover booking details and the initial charging process. For docket-only lookups, Pierce County court dockets go into more detail on reading the case event log. Traffic citation lookups have their own process through District Court, covered on the traffic court records page. County and agency records outside the court system, such as sheriff administrative files and county department records, fall under a separate request process explained on the public records page. The Clerk of the Superior Court page covers e-filing, forms, self-help resources, and copy-request steps in full detail.