- The State of Washington’s 39 counties are divided into 31 judicial districts.
- Superior Court Judges are elected in each district to a 4-year term by popular vote on a nonpartisan ballot.
- Because there is no limit on the types of civil or criminal cases heard, Superior Courts are referred to as general jurisdiction courts.
- Superior Courts are the only trial courts of general jurisdiction in the state and are courts of record.
- Superior Courts have jurisdiction over appeals from District Courts, Municipal Courts and decisions made by state administrative agencies.
- An appeal from a final decision of a Superior Court generally is heard by the Court of Appeals. However, in some cases such as death penalty cases, appeals are sent directly to the Supreme Court.
- Juvenile Court is a division of Superior Court established by law to deal with youths under the age of 18 who commit offenses or who are dependent (abused or neglected).
Yakima County Superior Court
- Yakima County Superior Court has 8 full time elected Judges as authorized by law.
- The Court has 3 full-time appointed court commissioners to handle additional workload at multiple court facilities.
- The Court Administrator’s Office handles judicial scheduling and assignments and the budget matters of the Court.
- The County Clerk’s Office is separate from Superior Court and handles court fines, and restitution, court records and data dissemination, and provides clerk staff for the Superior Court courtrooms. The Clerk’s Office has many other functions by law.
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