Washington Criminal Records

Washington Criminal Records are official papers that show what crimes people have committed in the state. Criminal records in Washington comprise arrest data, judgments, and sentence records from the state's two female and ten male prisons.

People in this state can get these documents from the Washington State Patrol (WSP), the custodian for most of these records. The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) stipulated that criminal records are public documents in Washington. However, sealed, expunged, and explicitly prohibited by law records are not publicly available in this state.

Typical information shown in a Washington Criminal Record includes:

• Subject's personal information (name, date of birth, gender, and race)
• Any aliases
• Fingerprints
• Mugshot
• Driver license number
• Charges of crime
• Current and past addresses
• History of arrests
• Current and previous warrants

The information on a criminal record varies by state. However, if you commit a crime in Washington, the following details may appear on your criminal record:

Felonies

In Washington, felony records are severe crimes with more than one year of imprisonment. In this state, felony records can be either Classes A, B, or C, with Class C felonies being the least significant and Class A being the most severe.

Class A Felonies

It is the worst type of felony in Washington. Those who commit this will face a $50,000 fine and life imprisonment. Some of the most prevalent felonies in this class include:

• First-degree murder
• Rape
• Second-degree murder
• Homicide caused by child abuse
• Assault with a lethal weapon

Class B Felonies

Someone with this Class B felony record in Washington will spend a $20,000 fine and up to 10 years in prison. Class B Felonies include, but are not limited to:

• Breaking a restraining order by stalking
• Second-degree manslaughter
• Residential burglary
• Car theft
• Stolen gun possession

Class C Felonies

Committing Class C felonies in Washington has a $10,000 fine and five years imprisonment., Some of the common offenses under Class C felonies include:

• Fourth-degree assault
• Theft of electronic data
• Third-degree assault
• Property theft valued between $750 and $1,500

In Washington, a felony record will stay on your criminal history for life unless you successfully qualify for the state expungement. In this state, the time you have to wait before getting your record expunged depends on the class of felony you have committed.

Misdemeanor

Misdemeanors are less drastic offenses than felonies in Washington. The state has only two categories of misdemeanors: misdemeanors (regular), which are the least severe, and gross misdemeanors, which are the most serious.

Misdemeanors (Regular)

In Washington, this misdemeanor comes with a $1,000 fine and 90 days in jail. Some examples of offenses that fall into this category are:

• Petty theft
• Prostitution or patronizing a prostitute
• Disorderly behavior
• Police order disobedience
• Trespassing
• Theft of shopping carts
• Vandalism
• Having more than 40 grams of marijuana

 Gross Misdemeanors

If you commit an offense under this misdemeanor type, you will have to pay a fine of $5,000 and spend a year in jail. In Washington, the following are examples of gross misdemeanors:

• Violating protective order restrictions
• Stalking
• Domestic assault
• Property theft costing little more than $750
• Theft of TV subscription services

How long does a misdemeanor remain on your record? In Washington, a misdemeanor record will stay on your criminal history for the rest of your life unless expunged.

Criminal Driving Violations

Like all other states, Washington has two categories of criminal driving violation records: traffic felony violations, which are the most severe, and traffic misdemeanor violations, which are less harsh.

Felony Traffic Violations

In Washington, a person commits a felony traffic violation when they break a traffic law that causes serious harm to someone's body, damage to their property, or the death of someone else. Police officers in this state can also charge a driver with a felony traffic violation if they leave the scene of an accident.

Felony traffic violations usually come with higher fines and longer prison sentences than other traffic violations.

The following are some examples of felony traffic violations in Washington:

• Driving under the influence (DUI) for the fourth time
• Reckless driving
• Driving with a suspended license
• Hit and run

Traffic Misdemeanors

In this state, people guilty of this traffic misdemeanor will go to jail for less than a year or pay a fine. Misdemeanor traffic violations in Washington include:

• Driving without a valid license
• Avoiding a police officer
• Misuse of an accessible parking placard

In Washington, a criminal driving violation will stay on your record for a specific time based on your crime. Most misdemeanor traffic violations in this state will remain on one's criminal record for seven to ten years. However, alcohol-related convictions such as DUI are permanent on a person's criminal record.

Sexual Offenses

Statutory rape in Washington happens when an adult has sexual contact with a child under 16. In this state, the Washington rape and child molestation legislation condemned this sexual offense record depending on what kind of sexual contact occurred and how old the parties involved were.

The following are some examples of statutory rape or sexual offense records in Washington:

First-degree Molestation of a Minor

In this state, molesting a child in the first degree is a Class A felony. Those who commit this crime will spend the rest of their lives in prison and pay $50,000 or both. It happens when a child under 11 and a plaintiff who is three years older than the minor have sexual contact.

Second-degree Molestation of a Minor

This kind of sexual crime is a Class B felony, which means you could get a fine of $20,000 or ten years in prison or both. A defendant three years older than the child commits this felony by having sexual intercourse with a 12 or 13-year-old.

Third-degree Molestation of a Minor

This type of sexual crime is a Class C felony with a $10,000 fine, five years in prison, or both. It entails sexual intercourse between a youngster aged 14 or 15 and an offender four years older than the victim.

First-degree Rape of a Minor

The rape of a minor in the first degree is a Class A felony record in Washington. It comes with a fine of $50,000, a life sentence in prison, or both. First-degree rape of a minor happens when someone over 18 has sexual contact with a minor under 11.

Second-degree Rape of a Minor

In Washington, raping a minor in the second degree is also a Class A felony. Those who commit this crime will have to pay $50,000, spend the rest of their lives in prison, or both. It involves a sexual act between a 12 or 13-year-old and a person three years older than the victim.

Third-degree Rape of a Minor

This sexual crime in Washington is a Class C felony. Those who do this must pay a $10,000 fine, spend five years in prison, or both. When a person four years older than the victim has sexual contact with a minor between the ages of 14 and 15, they are guilty of this crime.

Anyone found guilty of a sexual crime in Washington must register as a sex offender in the state. There are three types of sex offenders in Washington. Level I offenders are least likely to re-offend and are not in the state registry. On the other hand, level II offenders present a moderate risk, while level III offenders are the most likely to do it again.

Concerned individuals who want to check sex offenders in this state can look at the Washington Sex Offender Registry maintained by the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs. They can also search the National Sex Offender Registration, as the state's law requires all sex offenders to register on this list.

Washington, like the majority of states, allows for the expungement of criminal records. This state refers to expungement as a "vacation" or "set aside". This procedure expunges or removes a person's criminal history and returns them to pre-offense status.

Who Can Get their Record Expunged in Washington?

In Washington, you may be eligible for expungement if you meet the following criteria:

• You were not found guilty
• The court dropped or dismissed your charges
• You got a "favorable" judgment

However, you are not qualified for expungement in Washington if:

• You got a deferred prosecution or another diversion.
• You were found guilty of a felony or severe misdemeanor.
• You got detained during the 2 to 3 years waiting period.

Expungement Process in Washington

If you are eligible, here are the five steps you must follow in Washington to apply for expungement:

• Obtain the expungement form from the WPS website.
• Fill out the expungement form completely and sign it. Make sure someone else signs and dates the document as a witness.
• Take your fingerprints at your local police station or the WSP office.
• Pay the fingerprinting charge, which ranges from $5 to $15.
• Send the form and all the other paperwork to WPS.

Washington Inmate Records show individual detention and release from facilities in the state. These records also include information about the identities and locations of those incarcerated.

The Washington State Department of Corrections (WDOC) is in charge of all state prisons and work release centers. It also keeps records and information about the people in state prisons.

Individuals looking for inmate records can utilize the WDOc Inmate Search tool. To get to these records, the person making the request must set up a credit card account on this search engine and put in the first and last name of the inmate or the DOC number.

Alternatively, concerned individuals may contact or visit local law enforcement agencies to request inmate records.

A Washington Inmate Record comprises the following information:

• Inmate's personal information (name, gender, race, birth date)
• Any aliases
• DOC ID
• Fingerprints
• Photograph
• Weight and height
• Placed in charge
• Crime details
• Date of imprisonment
• Date of the expected release
• Information about past crimes
• Sentence summary

Arrest records in Washington are official papers published by law enforcement authorities following an arrest. These documents contain personal information about the individual, booking details, and interrogation information.

In Washington, the court's arrest warrants are official orders that give law enforcement officials the right to arrest certain people.

Following an arrest in this state, the arresting officer will transport the suspect to a local police station for booking. During booking, the officer will put the offender's information into the system, take a photo, and get fingerprints. In some cases, the officers may also have to take samples of the person's DNA or handwriting.

Washington Arrest Records are open to the public and kept up to date by law enforcement agencies. Those who want to seek other people's arrest records in this state can do so at the Washington State Archives (WSA). On this website, users can search by case number or case year.

Interested parties can also access the online archives by name or keyword. Requesters must input the subject's first and last names to begin a name search. On the other hand, keyword search works the same way.

Moreover, requesting parties can search court arrest records in person or by mail. The requester must go to the Clerk's Office to search an arrest record in person.

An arrest record in Washington includes the following information:

• Arrestee's personal information (name, birth date, nationality, and gender)
• Any aliases
• Photographs
• Fingerprints
• Booking number
• Date and time of the arrest
• Name of arresting office
• Arresting agency
• Location of the holding facility

There are a variety of reasons for obtaining criminal records. However, in Washington, criminal records are requested by companies that want to know a potential employee's background.

In this state, a requester can do a criminal record search through the office of the clerk of the various trial courts.

The public can also visit the Access to Criminal History website of the WSP to look at these records. The criminal record search on this page costs $11, plus an additional $10 if the requester requires a notary.

Furthermore, WSP lets interested people look at these records by doing a $58 fingerprint search. The public can see these records by filling out the application for a criminal record check and sending it to the department with a $32 fee.