Spokane County Clerk of the Superior Court

What the Spokane County Clerk Does

In Washington, the County Clerk is the Clerk of the Superior Court. That is one office, not two. The Clerk acts as Judicial Administrator of the Superior Court and keeps the records and files on Superior Court proceedings. The current Clerk is Timothy W. Fitzgerald.

The office holds a wide range of case files. It keeps civil suits, domestic and family-law matters including divorce, felony criminal cases, civil commitment, probate, guardianship, paternity, adoption, and juvenile matters. Beyond the case files themselves, the Clerk maintains courtroom clerk journals, exhibits, and the documents that make up each file. Some courtrooms are recorded, and those digital recordings are kept by the Clerk through an FTR Gold system.

One point trips up a lot of people. The Clerk handles Superior Court records only. District Court filed documents come from the District Court Clerk, not this office. Juvenile Court filed documents do route through the County Clerk, while the administrative side of each court goes to that court's administrator.

The official page on getting information about a case describes the office role and the records it keeps for the Superior Court. You can read the county's own explanation of how to get information about a case, which lists what the Clerk holds.

From there, you can decide whether you need a record search, a plain copy, or a certified copy.

Spokane County Clerk Office and Hours

The Clerk's Office sits inside the County Courthouse on the downtown Broadway campus. Walk-in service runs on a split daytime schedule, and the office closes for the noon hour for copy service. It is closed on federal holidays. Call ahead when you need an exact page count or fee before you visit.

If you cannot make the trip downtown, mail works too. The mail address routes to the same Room 300 office, and the staff can pull, count, and quote a file before you send payment. Note: court records cannot be pulled through the county GovQA public records portal, which the county reserves for non-court agency records.

Records the Spokane County Clerk Keeps

The Clerk's job is to be the keeper of the Superior Court record. Each filing in a case becomes part of that file, and the office tracks the file from the first document to the final order. The list below covers the main case types the Clerk maintains.

• Civil cases, such as suits, judgments, and liens.
• Domestic and family law, including divorce, custody, and support.
• Felony criminal cases.
• Civil commitment and mental health matters.
• Probate, guardianship, and estate files.
• Paternity and adoption cases.
• Juvenile court filed documents.

Alongside the case files, the office keeps the courtroom clerk journals and the exhibits entered at hearings. For courtrooms that record audio, the Clerk holds the digital FTR recordings and can make a copy on disc. Divorce and family files are searched and copied the same way as any other Superior Court record. For more on those, see the marriage and divorce records page, and for estate matters, the probate records page.

Spokane County Clerk Fee Schedule

Two kinds of fees show up at the Clerk's window. Copy fees apply when you want a paper or certified version of a document. Filing fees apply when you open a new case. The table pulls both from the office copy page and the fee schedule that took effect in July 2025.

The Clerk does not take debit or credit cards for copy fees. Pay copy fees in person with cash or another accepted method, or by check or money order through the mail. A microfilm copy costs a bit more per page than a plain paper copy because of the format. Certified copies carry the per-page rate on top of the first-page fee, so a long file adds up fast.

How to Get Copies From the Clerk

You can request Superior Court copies in person or by mail. In person, filed documents are pulled at the Clerk's Office during copy hours. Bring the case number and the names of the parties so staff can find the file quickly. Pre-2005 Superior Court documents are not online, but they can still be viewed and copied in person.

For a mail request, write to the Clerk's Office at Room 300 and include the fee and a self-addressed stamped envelope with enough postage for the return. Call first to confirm the page count and the exact charge. Criminal record copies by mail need a few specific items, which are listed in the form-field table below.

The official page on obtaining copies walks through the in-person and mail steps and lists what a criminal-record mail request must include. See the county guidance on obtaining copies of documents for the full detail.

The same page confirms that the Clerk does not run copy fees on a card, so plan your payment before you send or arrive.

How to Request a Certified Copy

A certified copy carries the Clerk's seal and is the version courts, agencies, and many private parties require. A plain copy from a search tool will not stand in for it. The steps below cover a typical certified copy request from the Spokane County Clerk.

1. Find the case number and party names, using the county Court Viewer if needed.
2. Call the Clerk's Office to confirm the page count and the total fee.
3. Decide whether to request in person during copy hours or by mail to Room 300.
4. Prepare payment by cash, check, or money order, since cards are not taken for copy fees.
5. For a mail request, include a self-addressed stamped envelope with enough return postage.
6. State clearly that you want a certified copy and list the exact documents.
7. Pick up the certified copy or wait for the mailed response.

Court cases are public, so anyone can usually ask for a copy of an open file. The fee is the same whether you are a party or not. For sealed or confidential files, the staff can tell you the file status before you pay, and a judge's order may be needed to view it.

Clerk Records vs District Court Records

Not every court record runs through this office. The County Clerk holds Superior Court files. Limited-jurisdiction cases, such as misdemeanors, infractions, traffic, and small claims, are filed in District Court, and that court keeps its own records through a separate request process. Sending a District Court request to the Clerk's Office only slows you down.

The split matters when you are not sure which court heard a case. A felony will be a Superior Court file held by the Clerk. A speeding ticket will be a District Court file. If you are unsure, the county Court Viewer can tell you which court holds the case before you decide where to send a copy request. For the limited-jurisdiction side, the District Court page covers that court's own records process.

Search a Case Before You Order Copies

You do not need to visit the Clerk just to read a case. The free county Court Viewer lets you confirm a case number, check the parties, and review the document list first. That way you order only the pages you actually need, which keeps the fee down.

Use the viewer to verify you have the right file, then bring the case number to the Clerk for the certified version. Document images filed before January 2005 are not online, so older Superior Court files still need an in-person look or a mail request. For the full walkthrough of the search tools, see the court records page. Note: the viewer is a reference tool, and the official record always stays with the Clerk of the Superior Court.

Related Spokane County Clerk Resources

From here you may also need the county's court records search, marriage and divorce records, probate records, the Superior Court overview, or the District Court records process for limited-jurisdiction cases.