Skamania County Criminal Docket Searches
Your first job is sorting out the court. Felonies and general-jurisdiction criminal matters go to Skamania County Superior Court. Qualifying misdemeanors and gross misdemeanors land in Skamania County District Court. Stevenson Municipal Court and North Bonneville Municipal Court take city matters within their scope. The name on a citation, complaint, or notice is the best starting point. A county name alone tells you nothing about which court holds the case.
For the online docket search itself, the court level decides the tool. Superior Court criminal docket entries come through Odyssey Portal. District and municipal cases run through Washington Search Case Records. Both systems update after clerk entry, and neither counts as the official record. When a search comes up empty, call or visit the clerk for that court. The County Clerk holds Superior Court files. The District Court office keeps District Court records plus municipal records handled through local arrangements.
Offline requests follow the same split. Superior Court case-file questions go to the County Clerk. Reach that office at 509-427-3770, 240 NW Vancouver Avenue, or PO Box 790 in Stevenson. For District and municipal records, you can hand deliver a request to Room 35 on the third floor. Mail works too: PO Box 790, email districtcourt@co.skamania.wa.us, or fax 509-427-3777. The District Court records clerk processes the official request form and contacts the requester afterward. The county has confirmed no public courthouse terminal. So do not plan a trip around one.
- Read the court name on the filed notice or citation.
- Select Superior in Odyssey, or the exact District or municipal court in the state search.
- Use the case number when known; otherwise search the party name in the documented format.
- Compare the court, file date, charge, and hearing entries.
- Request the filed order or a certified copy from the correct clerk.
Skamania Criminal Courts by Level
There is no single docket office in Skamania County. The court level controls both jurisdiction and where you search. Washington law gives Superior Court broad jurisdiction. Limited-jurisdiction courts hear only what statute or city authority assigns them. An appeal can move a lower-court case into Superior Court. Even then, the original record stays where it began.
| Court | Criminal work | Public route |
|---|---|---|
| Skamania County Superior Court | Felonies and general-jurisdiction cases | Odyssey, then County Clerk |
| Skamania County District Court | Qualifying misdemeanors | State search, then District Court |
| Stevenson Municipal Court | Authorized city matters | State search under Stevenson |
| North Bonneville Municipal Court | Authorized city matters | State search under North Bonneville |
The official JIS court-code list tags each court: Superior is S30, District is SKD, Stevenson is SVM, and North Bonneville is NBM. A code confirms which court a Skamania County case sits in. It says nothing about guilt or case status.
Criminal Dockets: What They Show
Think of a Skamania County criminal docket as a timeline of court activity. Odyssey can display Superior Court case information, parties, disposition events, events, and hearings. The statewide system returns case and date data for limited-jurisdiction courts. Neither one replaces the filed papers. A charge label shows what was filed. It does not mean the charge stuck. A hearing entry marks a setting, not what happened once it began.
| Case number | The court-assigned identifier and court level; Superior criminal cases use type digit 1. |
|---|---|
| Charge | The filed offense label, subject to later amendment or dismissal. |
| Events | Filings, orders, minute entries, and other recorded activity. |
| Hearings | Scheduled appearances with public setting details. |
| Disposition | A coded or written outcome that must be read with the order. |
A Superior Court case number combines a two-digit year, a case-type digit, a sequence, and a check or county element. The example 21-1-00847-30 is illustrative only. District and municipal formats follow local rules. Never read an offense, date, or outcome into their characters.
Skamania District Arraignment Check-In
Responding to a citation or complaint? The District Court criminal page explains that the listed appearance is an arraignment. It is the first court appearance where the charge is addressed and a plea may be entered. It is not a trial. It is not a final outcome. Check in at the District Court counter in Room 35. The counter sits at 240 NW Vancouver Avenue in Stevenson.
The same page posts an appointed-attorney form for people who cannot afford counsel. Filing it does not guarantee an appointment. The court decides eligibility. Later docket entries may show counsel, a plea, or a new setting. For urgent attendance questions, call the District Court office at 509-427-3782. Do not guess from portal text.
Note: A citation or complaint appearance date is an arraignment unless the court gives a different written instruction.
Criminal Case Stages on the Docket
Every criminal docket opens with a charging paper. That may be a complaint, an information, or another filing. An arraignment entry often follows. Pretrial settings can track motions, readiness, negotiations, or trial planning. A plea or verdict does not always close the record at once. Disposition and sentencing events may come next. Later orders or review hearings may follow where the law and the case require them.
Docket flow: Filing › Arraignment › Pretrial › Plea or Trial › Disposition › Sentencing
Treat this sequence as a reading aid, not a promise that every case uses every step. A continued hearing simply moved. A stricken setting was pulled from the calendar, and neither term means dismissal. A pending motion is a request, not a ruling. Always read the event history alongside the signed order.
Read Skamania Criminal Codes Carefully
Washington's official JIS disposition codes trade context for brevity. The same short labels can mean different things across civil, criminal, and infraction tables. Match the code to the right table first. Then check the filed order.
- G or NG
- Guilty or not guilty in the criminal context.
- D
- Dismissed; the order controls the scope and reason.
- DP or OD
- Deferred prosecution, or another deferral or diversion category.
- BO
- Bound over to another court or level; not itself a conviction.
- V
- Vacated, meaning an event, order, or judgment was set aside.
A no-result search does not mean the case was dismissed. The cause could be the wrong court, a spelling mismatch, a data lag, or a restricted case. Retry with the exact court and case number, then contact the clerk.
Skamania County Criminal Docket Courts
Need a filed felony order in Skamania County? The office to contact is the County Clerk, located at 240 NW Vancouver Avenue. That office holds the Superior Court criminal files. It issues certified copies, too. You can call 509-427-3770 or write to PO Box 790, Stevenson, WA 98648. The Washington Courts directory lists the local contacts as well. So for Superior Court records, this is the right desk.
District Court works from the same courthouse. It sits in Room 35 and keeps its own criminal docket files. Under an interlocal arrangement, its staff also support Stevenson Municipal Court. North Bonneville still counts as its own municipal court in the public coding. When the courts share staff, search under whichever court is actually named on the case. A District request sent to the County Clerk by mistake can stall. The two offices maintain separate files.
Skamania Criminal Motion Timing
Skamania County Superior Court sets its criminal motion calendar at 9:00 a.m. The local rules fix that hour. A written motion citation or request must land by 5:00 p.m. That deadline falls on the Monday before a regular calendar. A special calendar needs it by the third day before. Miss those windows and the motion will not show up on the date you first expect. That timing, not a hidden ruling, usually explains the gap.
The court administrator may shift calendar days or hours. Skamania and Klickitat share a single Superior Court judge. That judge moves between the two county seats. Before relying on any setting, confirm it. Check with the County Clerk and the current local Superior Court rules. A docket listing alone is not a guaranteed hearing notice.
Access Rules for Criminal Dockets
Public access to court records in Washington runs through General Rule 31. That rule has limits. Sealed files, protected identifiers, and restricted material can be withheld or redacted. Skamania County keeps juvenile dockets off its public Superior calendar. Juvenile offender and dependency records get special handling. Just because nothing appears online does not mean no case exists.
Key access rules:
General Rule 31 sets the statewide court-record access framework.
RCW 13.50.050 governs records in juvenile justice or care-agency settings.
RCW 2.08.010 defines Superior Court jurisdiction.
When a public entry reads unclearly, ask the clerk for whatever part of the filed order may be released to the public. The clerk can tell you what the law permits to leave the office.
Get the Skamania Filed Order
Portal data can point you to a Skamania County criminal docket. Yet state guidance cautions that online status may lag or stay incomplete. Washington Search Case Records hands over no document copies. Odyssey may list events while holding back the papers themselves. Give the County Clerk a case number, party name, and filing or hearing date. That covers Superior matters. For District or municipal cases, follow the District Court records process.
A docket is not a Washington criminal-history record. The state criminal-history source is Washington State Patrol WATCH. One traces a single case, while history systems compile records under their own rules. Even within one case, a disposition code may leave out terms that the judgment and sentence contain. Confirm any outcome that matters with the signed order.