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Seattle Police Court Records, 1886-1956

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Washington (State). Municipal Court (Seattle)
Title
Seattle Police Court Records
Dates
1886-1956 (inclusive)
Quantity
311 volumes
Collection Number
5601
Summary
Dockets, logs, and indexes of cases heard in Seattle's Police Court.
Repository
Seattle Municipal Archives
Seattle Municipal Archives
Office of the City Clerk
City of Seattle
PO Box 94728
98124-4728
Seattle, WA
Telephone: 2062337807
Fax: 2063869025
archives@seattle.gov
Access Restrictions

Records are open to the public.

Languages
English
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Historical Note

Seattle’s Police Court was the forerunner to the current Municipal Court. The first judicial officer for Seattle was appointed by the City Council in 1875 from among the King County Justices of the Peace serving the Seattle Precinct. In 1886, a charter amendment made each Seattle Precinct Justice a Police Justice with jurisdiction over ordinance violations. The 1890 Freeholders Charter officially established a Police Court in the city. This provision was repealed in 1892, after an 1891 state law created a Municipal Court system that included a Justice Court and Police Court.

The Police Court was a “court of limited jurisdiction” under the purview of the city of Seattle. (In contrast, the county was the parent agency for the Justice Court.) One of the justices of the peace in the Seattle Precinct was appointed to serve on the Police Court in addition to his duties on the Justice Court. The Police Court heard violations of state law that occurred within the city limits, as well as violations of City ordinances. It dealt with misdemeanors, traffic offenses, minor civil suits, and small claims, and also heard liquor-related cases during Prohibition.

The court was called by varying names over the years. Before 1891, it seems to generally have been known as the Police Court. From 1891 to 1897, it was called the Municipal Court, and then again was referred to as the Police Court until 1928, when it was once again called the Municipal Court. It retained that name from then on, except for 1954-1955, when it was called the Municipal Police Court.

The currently constituted Municipal Court was created in 1955 under Chapter 290 of the Washington State Laws. It has exclusive original jurisdiction over violations of all city ordinances, collects fines and forfeitures relating thereto, and hears cases related to misdemeanor defined by State statute that occur within the City limits. Municipal judges are elected by the qualified electors of the City of Seattle.

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Content Description

Court dockets, indexes, and case summaries relating to cases heard in the Police Court. Series are described more fully below.

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Use of the Collection

Preferred Citation

[Item and date], [Title of collection], Record Series 5601-[XX]. Volume [number], Page [number]. Seattle Municipal Archives.

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

The Seattle Police Court Records are arranged into four series:

5601-01: Police Court Dockets, 1886-1956

5601-02: Police Court General Indexes, 1891-1956

5601-03: Minute Books, 1894-1911

5601-04: Police Judge’s Journal, 1897-1920

Related Materials

Record series 5602-01 (Docket Record of Liquor Cases, 1917-1926) and 5602-02 (Liquor Docket Index, 1916-1926) relate to liquor-related cases heard in Police Court during the Prohibition era.

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Detailed Description of the Collection

The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection.

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Crime--Washington (State)--Seattle
  • Law enforcement--Washington (State)--Seattle
  • Municipal courts--Washington (State)--Seattle

Geographical Names

  • Seattle (Wash.)

Form or Genre Terms

  • Court records--Washington (State)--Seattle

Finding aid prepared by Julie Kerssen
2006

CC Attribution
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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