How Washington handles a case
What happens after an arrest anywhere in Washington: who decides release first, how fast a person sees a judge, which courts hear the case, and who runs the offices around them. Every county in the state works under these rules.
From arrest to court
- Who decides release first
A judge or court commissioner sets release at the preliminary appearance. Before that, a district or municipal court may adopt its own bail schedule that the jail applies; adopting one is optional and court by court.
CrRLJ 3.2CrR 3.2.1RCW 10.99.045RCW 3.42.010- Time to see a judge
A judge must decide probable cause within 48 hours of an arrest, counting weekends and holidays. The person must then appear before the court by the close of business on the next court day.
CrR 3.2.1(a), (c), (d)- Money bail
Court rules presume release on personal recognizance except in capital cases. A court may require a bond only after finding a likely failure to appear or a danger, must use the least restrictive conditions, and must consider the person's financial resources when setting a bond.
CrR 3.2- Pretrial risk assessment
Washington has no statewide pretrial risk tool. Some counties use one.
Mapping Pretrial Risk, State Laws on RATs (secondary; used as a pointer)- Courts
Each county has a superior court, which tries felonies. District courts hear misdemeanors and gross misdemeanors and can hold felony preliminary hearings, and municipal courts hear cases under city ordinances.
RCW 2.08.060RCW 3.66.060RCW 35.20.030- Judges and magistrates
Voters elect superior court judges on a nonpartisan ballot to four-year terms. District judges are also elected for four years and must be lawyers, except in districts under 5,000 people where a lay candidate passed the qualifying exam by 2003. Mayors appoint municipal judges for four-year terms unless the city makes the job elective.
RCW 2.08.060, 2.08.070RCW 29A.52.231RCW 3.34.060RCW 3.50.040, 3.50.050- Prosecutors
Each county elects a prosecuting attorney.
RCW 36.16.030RCW 36.27.005- Public defense
Each county and city must adopt public defense standards and may provide lawyers through a public defender office, contracts, or assigned counsel. The state Office of Public Defense runs state funding for trial-level criminal defense.
RCW 10.101.030RCW 2.70.020- Jails
Counties and cities run jails and may contract with each other for jail services. A county or city may run its jail through its own department of corrections.
RCW 70.48.090
Read from the statutes and court rules cited, 2026-09-30. The pretrial section rests on a secondary summary. Which counties use commissioners for preliminary appearances was not checked.