Criminal Court Cases in Franklin County
Franklin County criminal cases are divided by jurisdiction. Superior Court hears felonies, juvenile-offender matters, and appeals from courts of limited jurisdiction. The elected Franklin County Clerk keeps those Superior Court files in Building B, room B306, at the courthouse campus. District Court, in room B218, handles county misdemeanors, gross misdemeanors, and infractions. Pasco Municipal Court in Building D keeps city misdemeanor, ordinance, and infraction cases. The case number, court name, or citation should identify which counter owns the official file.
A shared street address can cause a costly wrong turn. The clerk, District Court, and municipal court sit in different rooms or buildings and maintain separate records. Benton and Franklin Counties share a Superior Court judicial district, yet the Franklin County Clerk remains custodian for Franklin filings. The court file starts when a prosecutor files a complaint or information. It can differ from an arrest report because charges may be amended, added, dismissed, or never filed.
Franklin County Court Network
Choose the court by the level and source of the alleged offense, not merely by the place of arrest. A felony information goes to Superior Court. A county misdemeanor or gross misdemeanor belongs in District Court, while a Pasco city offense can go to Pasco Municipal Court. Court staff can help identify public case information, but each office supplies only the records it keeps.
| Court | Criminal scope | Records contact |
|---|---|---|
| Franklin County Superior Court | Felonies, juvenile offender cases, appeals | Clerk, B306; 509-545-3525 |
| Franklin County District Court | County misdemeanors, gross misdemeanors, infractions | B218; 509-545-3593 |
| Pasco Municipal Court | City misdemeanors, ordinances, infractions | Building D; 509-545-3491 |
The Franklin County Clerk page identifies the felony-file custodian and counter. Its official view is shown below.
That office is the right destination for an information, judgment and sentence, order, or certified copy in a Franklin County Superior Court case.
Franklin County Case Record Searches
Begin online with the Odyssey Portal for Franklin County Superior Court case information. Anonymous access does not require registration. Search by party name or cause number, then use filters to limit results. Washington Courts Case Search adds a statewide cross-court index and court-date route. For deeper limited-jurisdiction docket data, JIS-Link is a registered, fee-based service that charges $0.145 per command and does not provide document images. The court of record is still the source for the official file.
- Open Odyssey and use Smart Search for a Franklin County Superior Court felony case.
- Enter a party name or cause number. Copy the case number exactly when a match appears.
- Narrow the results by location, criminal case type, filed date, or case status.
- Read charges, events, hearings, parties, and dispositions count by count.
- Request the information, judgment, sentence, or certified document from the proper clerk.
| Field label | Type | Required | Format or use |
|---|---|---|---|
| Search by | Text | Yes | Record number or party name |
| Advanced Filtering Options | Controls | No | Opens location, date, type, and status filters |
| Location | Dropdown | No | Select Franklin County Superior Court |
| Case Type | Dropdown | No | Choose a criminal category when needed |
| Filed Date | Date or range | No | Limits the filing period |
| Case Status | Dropdown | No | Uses status values supplied by Odyssey |
The Washington Courts case-search gateway supplies the statewide index shown in this image.
Use that index to identify the court, then move to the Franklin County clerk or lower-court counter for the underlying file.
Franklin County Odyssey Limits
Odyssey is useful for names, cause numbers, charge entries, hearings, status, and disposition events. It is not anonymous access to every filed page. Restricted matters, sealed cases, protected identifiers, and document images are not available to an anonymous user. A docket entry may name an information, motion, or order without displaying the document itself. That difference matters when exact wording controls the answer.
Smart Search accepts an asterisk after a partial name. Washington's instructions set minimums of one first-name character, three last-name characters, or four case-number characters, and searches are not case-sensitive. Those rules can help with spelling variants, but a broad search may return many unrelated parties. Add Franklin County as the location and compare the full cause number before opening a result.
The Franklin County court-records page connects the portal, archive information, and copy routes. The captured official page appears below.
The portal supplies case information, while the clerk supplies pleadings, orders, judgments, and certified copies. Treat those as two access levels.
What a Criminal Case File Contains
A Franklin County criminal case file is organized around the cause number and the court's acts. It can show the prosecutor's filed allegations, defense and prosecution appearances, hearing dates, motions, plea, verdict, disposition, and sentence. Financial sections may include restitution, fines, costs, and payments. Bond is a release condition, not a fine. Read each charge separately because one count may end in conviction while another is dismissed.
| Case number and court | Identifies the official cause and the Franklin County court that owns the file. |
|---|---|
| Charging document | The complaint or information states charges actually filed by the prosecutor. |
| Docket entries | A dated list of filings, hearings, orders, and other case events. |
| Parties and counsel | Names party roles, attorneys, and the assigned judicial officer when public. |
| Disposition and judgment | Shows the result for each count, such as conviction, acquittal, or dismissal. |
| Sentence and conditions | Records confinement, supervision, restitution, fines, or other terms ordered. |
Note: A public docket is a chronology, while the signed order or judgment supplies the court's exact legal terms.
Ordering Franklin County Court Copies
When the docket alone is not enough, ask the clerk for a named document. The Superior Court electronic form is only for Superior Court records and says to allow seven days. A strong request includes the case name, case number, party name and birth date when requested, document title, and filing date. The form also lets a requester specify a certified or uncertified copy and select delivery or pickup. A focused request is easier to price and fill than a broad demand for an entire file.
The official Franklin County Clerk records-request form is the source for the electronic copy route.
The form turns an Odyssey result into a precise request for the charging paper, judgment, sentence, or other filed record.
Franklin County Superior Court Clerk
1016 N Fourth Avenue, B306
Pasco, WA 99301
509-545-3525
Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to noon and 1 to 4 p.m.
Criminal Case Stages in Franklin County
A state case may start with an arrest or summons, but filing depends on the prosecutor's charging decision. After charges are filed, the court holds an arraignment, where the accusation is stated and a plea is entered. Pretrial events can include motions, negotiations, discovery disputes, and status hearings. The case then ends by dismissal, plea, or trial, followed by judgment and sentence when there is a conviction. An appeal may create another record layer.
Case flow: Charges Filed › Arraignment › Pretrial › Plea or Trial › Disposition › Sentencing
Dates in a Franklin County docket show when each step occurred. They do not explain every reason for delay or amendment. Open the entry tied to the event, then request the filed order if the detail affects your own record review or your understanding of the case.
Reading Franklin County Criminal Dockets
Several terms recur in Franklin County court records. An information is the prosecutor-filed charging paper commonly used for a felony. A disposition is the result of a charge. A docket is the ordered list of events, not the packet of documents. Community custody means Washington DOC supervision in the community, while local probation applies to certain limited-jurisdiction cases. A bench warrant is a court order for arrest, often tied to failure to appear or comply.
- Arraignment
- The hearing where charges are stated and a plea is taken.
- Disposition
- The outcome entered for a charge or the case.
- Dismissal
- The end of a charge without conviction.
- Judgment and sentence
- The signed record of guilt and the terms imposed after conviction.
- Restitution
- Court-ordered repayment for qualifying victim losses.
Read the docket by count and date. Do not infer that the first filed charge survived unchanged. The court's latest signed order controls over an old index entry.
Access Rules for Case Records
Washington court access is governed mainly by General Rule 31, not the Public Records Act route used for sheriff or county executive records. GR 31 presumes public access while shielding protected identifiers and restricted matters. Juvenile files, sealed cases, sensitive victim information, medical details, full birth dates, and other protected data may be withheld or masked. Online access can be narrower than counter access, but a court order can also restrict the underlying file.
If a Franklin County case does not appear, confirm the spelling, cause number, court, case level, and filing date. Then contact the court that would own it. A missing online result does not prove that no case exists. It may reflect a different court, a restricted matter, an indexing delay, or a record kept outside Odyssey.
Franklin County Court Record Levels
A search result, a docket, and a certified copy answer different questions. The statewide index helps locate the court. Odyssey gives Franklin County Superior Court case information. The clerk's file supplies the actual pleading or order. A certified copy adds the clerk's formal attestation. For a conviction outcome, obtain the judgment and sentence rather than relying on an arrest charge or a brief status label.
The broader Franklin County criminal history overview explains how a court file fits beside booking and state repository records. Each source records a different stage, so comparing them is often the best way to resolve a mismatch.