State Resources
Washington
WATCH gives anyone a Washington criminal history for $11, returned on screen immediately. The courts are searchable statewide for free. And the Public Records Act is genuinely one of the strongest in the country — agencies pay penalties per day for getting it wrong.
At a glance
| Record | Held by | Cost | Online |
|---|---|---|---|
| Business and entity search | Secretary of State — Corporations and Charities | Free to search | Yes |
| UCC filings | Department of Licensing — UCC | Free to search | Yes |
| Professional licenses | Department of Licensing and Department of Health | Free | Yes |
| Property and land records | County assessor and county auditor | Free online in most counties | By county |
| Court records | Administrative Office of the Courts — Odyssey Portal | Free | Yes |
| Criminal records | Washington State Patrol — WATCH | $11 per name | Yes |
| Vital records | Department of Health, Center for Health Statistics | Certified copies carry a fee | Yes |
| Unclaimed property | Department of Revenue | Free | Yes |
| Voter and resident records | Secretary of State — VoteWA | Free | Yes |
Worth knowing about Washington
WATCH: $11, instant, and conviction-only for the public
The Washington State Patrol runs WATCH — Washington Access to Criminal History. The public can request criminal history for non-criminal-justice purposes for $11, paid by card, and the response comes back immediately on screen.
What the public version returns is narrower than the police version, and the limits are precise. You get convictions, plus arrests less than one year old where the disposition is still pending, plus registered sex and kidnapping offenders.
That’s a well-drawn line. An arrest from three years ago that never resulted in a conviction is simply not there — unlike Wisconsin, where it would be. So a clean WATCH result means no convictions and no recent pending matters. It doesn’t mean nothing ever happened.
Pair it with the court portal, which shows the case file including outcomes WATCH omits.
The Public Records Act has real penalties, and agencies know it
Washington’s Public Records Act is written to be construed in favor of disclosure and it is enforced that way.
The provision that changes agency behavior is the penalty: a court can award a requester up to $100 per day, per record wrongly withheld, plus costs and attorney fees. Washington agencies have paid substantial sums under it, and public records officers are trained accordingly.
Practically, that means a clear written request citing the Public Records Act gets taken seriously here in a way it does not in, say, North Carolina. Agencies must respond within five business days — by producing records, acknowledging and giving a reasonable estimate, seeking clarification, or denying with an explanation.
Silence isn’t an option available to them, and pointing that out is usually enough.
Record by record
Business and entity search
Open business search →- Held by
- Secretary of State — Corporations and Charities
- Cost
- Free to search
Free advanced search covering entity name, UBI number, registered agent and governing person. The governing-person search is the valuable one — run a name and get every Washington entity that lists them as an officer, member or governor.
Filed documents are viewable. Annual reports are required, so an active entity has been refreshed within the year.
UCC filings
Open UCC information →- Held by
- Department of Licensing — UCC
- Cost
- Free to search
Washington files UCC financing statements with the Department of Licensing, not the Secretary of State. That trips people up.
A UCC-1 names the debtor, the secured party and the collateral, and the secured party is usually a lender — one of the few free routes to where a business banks.
Professional licenses
Open licensing →- Held by
- Department of Licensing and Department of Health
- Cost
- Free
Split between the Department of Licensing for business and professional credentials and the Department of Health for health professions. Both publish free verification.
Washington also publishes contractor registration with bond and insurance details, which is useful when you’re checking whether a contractor is worth suing.
Property and land records
- Held by
- County assessor and county auditor
- Cost
- Free online in most counties
No statewide property search. The county assessor holds ownership and value; the county auditor is the recorder of deeds in Washington, which is a naming difference worth remembering.
King, Pierce and Snohomish are good and free. Washington is a community property state, so a spouse may have an interest in property titled in one name.
Court records
Open court portal →- Held by
- Administrative Office of the Courts — Odyssey Portal
- Cost
- Free
Free case search covering superior, district and municipal courts as they move onto the statewide system. Search by party name or case number.
Washington also runs a separate index of court records that returns a case number and court for a name across the state. If the portal comes up short, that index is the fallback — and the courthouse itself is the fallback after that.
Criminal records
Open WATCH →- Held by
- Washington State Patrol — WATCH
- Cost
- $11 per name
Open to the public, $11, results returned immediately online. Convictions, arrests under a year old with pending dispositions, and registered offenders.
Name and date of birth drive the search. As with every name-based repository check, a common name returns other people — confirm against a court record before you rely on it.
Vital records
Open vital records →- Held by
- Department of Health, Center for Health Statistics
- Cost
- Certified copies carry a fee
Births, deaths, marriages and divorces from the state office, with county health departments and county auditors also issuing for local events.
Washington restricts certified copies but issues non-certified informational copies more freely, which is often enough to confirm a death.
Unclaimed property
Open unclaimed property →- Held by
- Department of Revenue
- Cost
- Free
Free name search. The holder named on a reported item is the useful part on a locate — a confirmed bank, insurer or employer relationship with a last known address attached.
Voter and resident records
Open VoteWA →- Held by
- Secretary of State — VoteWA
- Cost
- Free
Individual registration lookup. Washington restricts the bulk voter file and prohibits commercial use, so this is a one-subject confirmation tool.
Public records requests in Washington
- Statute
- RCW 42.56 (Public Records Act)
- Response deadline
- Five business days
- Appeal to
- Superior court, with statutory penalties available
- Appeal window
- One year to sue
Five business days to respond — produce, acknowledge with a reasonable estimate, ask for clarification, or deny with a written explanation. Doing nothing is itself a violation.
The teeth are in the penalty. A court may award up to $100 per day per record wrongly withheld, plus costs and reasonable attorney fees. That provision is why Washington agencies take these requests seriously.
You do not need to be a resident or explain your purpose — though note that an agency may ask whether records containing lists of individuals will be used for commercial purposes, because that use is prohibited.
The Attorney General publishes model rules and an open government ombudsman resource, and citing them in a request tends to shorten the conversation.
What Washington will not give you
- Non-conviction data. The public WATCH response excludes arrests over a year old that didn’t lead to conviction.
- Vacated and sealed convictions. Washington vacates a range of convictions and they leave the public record.
- Driver and vehicle records. Closed under the federal Driver’s Privacy Protection Act.
- Juvenile records. Largely sealed, and Washington seals more juvenile records automatically than most states.
- Lists of individuals for commercial use. Prohibited by statute, and agencies may require you to confirm the purpose.
Related
- Kansas — a $30 criminal history anyone can order
- Minnesota — the same thing for free
- Pennsylvania — $22, and a strong appeal route
- A FOIA request letter that works
- UCC filings name the lender
Fees and procedures verified August 2026. Clerks change their counter rules more often than the statutes change — call before you drive.