Lewis County
Lewis County is in the southwest region of the State of Washington. The county was created in December 1845 as Vancouver County but had its name changed in 1849 to honor Meriwether Lewis. More than 82,000 people live in Lewis County.
The traffic violations bureaus are at the bottom of the court system pyramid in Lewis County. These bureaus are departments authorized by district or municipal courts to handle the traffic cases filed at the courts. Traffic violations bureau handle fine payments, bails, and requests for mitigation hearings, contested hearings, and deferrals.
Municipal courts are next in hierarchy to the traffic violations bureaus. They handle violations of municipal ordinances, and the enforcement of recovery of license penalties or forfeitures. Some municipal courts have a teen court, youth court, or student court diversion program for minors aged 16 or 17, where other youth serve as lawyers, judges, jurors, and court officers in traffic infraction cases.
The Lewis County district court has limited jurisdiction in civil, criminal, and traffic matters. Examples of cases handled in the district court include anti-harassments, misdemeanor and gross misdemeanor offenses under state and county laws, traffic and non-traffic criminal charges, name changes, small claims not exceeding $10,000, traffic infractions, requests for vehicle impound hearings, and civil claims not exceeding $100,000.
The superior court in Lewis County is a state trial court of general jurisdiction. This court hears major criminal matters (felonies), civil cases including those related to real property, domestic relations matters, appeals from lower, and appeals from state administrative agencies. The court also has jurisdiction in adoption, probate and competency cases. The juvenile court is a department of the superior court and handles juvenile offender cases as well as child dependency matters.
The Lewis County clerk's administrative duties under law include maintaining court records in the county and providing access to the records. However, some records are confidential, such as those related to adoptions, paternity, mental illness, and juvenile dependencies.
Public Lewis County court records can be viewed at the county clerk's office on the 2nd floor of the Law and Justice center at 345 W Main Street, Chehalis. The clerk's office charges $0.50 per page for copies of documents and $5 for the first page and $1 for each additional page per document of certified copies of court records.
Case information for district court records are also available upon request from the clerk's office. Case records are records or information such as files, calendars, and dockets relating to in-court proceedings. To view or request a copy of a document filed in a particular case or get a CD recording of hearings, submit a completed Request to Access Court Records form to the Lewis County district court. The district court charges $0.25 per page, $5 per page of certified documents, or $20 per CD recording of hearings.
In addition, the public can search Lewis County superior court records online via the Odyssey Portal online records search.
