Columbia City Justice Court Dockets

Series

Identifier: 5605-01

Staff Only

Scope and Contents note

These dockets contain summaries of cases heard in Justice Court for the City of Columbia Precinct. Most are civil cases, although Volume 4 also includes some criminal cases. The majority of civil cases relate to debts or personal property, while criminal cases include offenses such as larceny, assault & battery, threatened assault, and display of a deadly weapon. There is also a series of requests for search warrants, apparently part of an effort to crack down on gambling. Volume 1 contains numerous pasted-in Transcripts of Judgments, all relating to cases brought by the State Insurance Co. against individuals for money owed.

Case information includes names of parties to the case, names of attorneys, costs, lists of filings, and disposition of the case. Because of the type of book used, these details are less clearly delineated in Volume 1 than in the later volumes. Volume 4 and (to a lesser extent) Volume 2 have names indexed at the front. The cases represented in this collection all took place before Columbia City was annexed and therefore were not under the purview of the Seattle Municipal Court system.

Dates

Creation: 1892-1906

Creator

Columbia City (Seattle, Wash.). Justice Court (Organization)

Conditions Governing Access note

Records are open to the public.

Historical Note

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 This provision was repealed in 1892, after an 1891 state law created a Municipal Court system that included a Justice Court and Police Court.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 Police 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.

The Justice Court, also created by the 1891 state law, was a “court of limited jurisdiction” under the purview of King County. The justices of the peace on the bench of the Justice Court dealt with misdemeanors, traffic offenses, minor civil suits, and small claims, and also heard liquor-related cases during Prohibition. More serious cases were referred to the county’s Superior Court. In 1961, the Washington State Justice Court Act combined the Justice Court and the District Court into one entity, a change that was adopted by King County in 1962.