wa-county-courts

Washington county courts (non-KCDC)

Use this skill in addition to wa-statewide-format when a civil matter is venued in a Washington county other than King County District Court (which has its own skill, wa-kcdc). It covers the courts of limited jurisdiction — and the superior court clerks — of Washington's most populous counties.

Most consumer-debt collection actions are filed in district court (courts of limited jurisdiction, up to a $100,000 amount in controversy under RCW 3.66.020; small claims up to $10,000). Larger matters, and some debt cases filed there by choice, go to superior court. This skill leads with the district court for each county and notes the superior court clerk where it differs.

NOT LEGAL ADVICE. This is a drafting and procedure aid. Court addresses, division assignments, e-filing portals, civil-calendar days, and local rules change without notice — verify every one against the court's own page (and the Washington Courts directory) before relying on it. Do not cache court-specific values across sessions.

Canonical sources — pull current details every time

For any county court, these are the authoritative starting points:

• Washington Courts directory — https://www.courts.wa.gov/court_dir/ — official address, phone, judges, and links for every court in the state. Use this to confirm a courthouse address or division before you put it in a caption.
• Local rules (LCR for superior courts, LCRLJ / LCR for district courts) — the https://www.courts.wa.gov/court_rules/ page links out to "Superior Court Rules" / "District Court Rules" / "Municipal Court Rules", and those pages list the local-rule sets court by court; many courts also post their own local rules on their own site, and the clerk of court keeps the authoritative copy. Read the county's local rules for filing format, working-copy requirements, motion-confirmation deadlines, and the civil motion calendar. (Note: the in-repo wa-law-references/references/court-rules/ corpus carries the statewide rule sets — CR, CRLJ, ER, GR, RAP, etc. — not the per-county local rules; pull those live.)
• The county court's own website (linked from each entry below) for the live e-filing portal, current civil-calendar dates, and division-specific note/scheduling forms.

Agent behavior: when you draft a caption, a note for a hearing, or a filing packet for one of these courts, fetch the current courthouse address, division assignment, e-filing instructions, and civil-calendar day from the sources above. Treat anything hardcoded in this skill as a pointer, not as ground truth.

Caption — county-court variants

District court (limited jurisdiction):

        [COUNTY] COUNTY DISTRICT COURT[, [DIVISION] DIVISION]
            IN AND FOR THE STATE OF WASHINGTON

Superior court (general jurisdiction):

   IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON
            IN AND FOR [COUNTY] COUNTY

Confirm the exact division line (some districts have multiple physical divisions — see Snohomish below) from the court's website before filing, and put the cause number on the right side of the caption directly below "No." Cause-number formats vary by county and by case-management system; do not invent one — copy it from the summons/complaint you were served, or from the clerk's confirmation.

County-by-county quick reference

The detailed entries — courthouse addresses, divisions, e-filing portals, and known local-practice notes — live in references/district-court-directory.md. Summary:

County (≈2025 pop.)	District court seat	E-filing system	Notes
King (2.29M)	—	—	Use the wa-kcdc skill.
Pierce (930k)	Tacoma	LINX (reached from piercecountywa.gov/374/E-Filing) — e-filing is mandatory under PCLGR 30 / PCLR 30 for most filers	Check the current civil motion docket / confirmation rule
Snohomish (844k)	Everett (plus South/Lynnwood, Evergreen/Monroe, Cascade/Arlington divisions)	County e-filing portal	File in the division assigned to the case
Spokane (549k)	Spokane (Public Safety Bldg)	County e-filing portal	—
Clark (517k)	Vancouver	Clark County Odyssey/eFile portal	—
Thurston (~300k)	Olympia (Building 3, Lakeridge Dr SW)	County e-filing portal	—
Kitsap (~280k)	Port Orchard (614 Division St)	County e-filing portal	—
Yakima (~258k)	Yakima (courthouse, 2nd St) + Grandview branch	County e-filing portal	Two physical locations
Whatcom (~232k)	Bellingham (311 Grand Ave)	County e-filing portal	—
Benton (~213k)	Kennewick	County e-filing / NCourt for fees	Benton & Franklin share a superior court

Population figures are from the Washington Office of Financial Management April 2025 estimates and are included only to scope "most populous" — they are not used for anything procedural.

Filing workflow — what's the same everywhere

Regardless of county, a noted civil motion in a Washington court of limited jurisdiction travels as a packet (this mirrors wa-kcdc and the wa-file-packet skill):

1. Motion (primary relief)
2. Supporting memorandum (only if the motion isn't self-contained)
3. Supporting declaration(s) with exhibits
4. Proposed order
5. Note for civil motion calendar / docket (the county's scheduling form — pull the current version from that court's site)
6. Certificate / declaration of service (CRLJ 5 in district court, CR 5 in superior court)

E-file each as a separate PDF through that county's portal, serve opposing counsel the same day by a CRLJ 5 / CR 5 method, and check the county's local rules for whether working copies are required (superior courts usually require them; most district courts do not, but some do for longer motions).

What's different — read the local rules

Things that genuinely vary county to county, and where to find them:

• How you get a hearing date. Some courts let you self-note onto a published civil calendar; others require an emailed date request to a calendar clerk first (KCDC-style). Check the county's local rules and civil-calendar page.
• Motion confirmation. Many superior courts require the moving party to confirm a contested hearing a set number of days out, or it's struck. District courts vary. The county's LCR/LCRLJ says.
• E-filing mandate vs. option. Pierce County mandates e-filing for most filers (PCLGR 30 / PCLR 30); others permit but don't require it.
• Division/venue within the county. Snohomish County District Court has four physical divisions; file in the one assigned to the case. Yakima County District Court has a Yakima courthouse and a Grandview branch.
• Cause-number format and document codes. Driven by the county's case-management system (LINX in Pierce, Odyssey/JIS elsewhere). Copy the format from the served pleadings or the clerk; don't construct one.

When in doubt, the controlling text is that county's local rules — pull the current set from https://www.courts.wa.gov/court_rules/ (District / Superior / Municipal Court Rules link → court-by-court list) or the court's own site — read alongside the statewide CRLJ / CR (which are mirrored in wa-law-references/references/court-rules/).

References

• references/district-court-directory.md — per-county courthouse addresses, divisions, e-filing portals, official-page links, and known local-practice notes
• references/filing-and-service.md — the cross-county packet, service, and working-copy checklist, with pointers into the statewide rules