In the interest of public health and safety during the COVID-19 crisis, Seattle Municipal Court is implementing an emergency limited court closure until further order of the court. Court operations will be limited to in-custody only appearances at Courtroom 2 of the King County Jail, under General Administrative Order 2020-07.
Given the uncertainty of when the court will resume regular operations and to avoid continually resetting hearings should the closure extend beyond May 4, the court is cancelling all upcoming out-of-custody hearings through July 31, 2020. This will give the court the ability to resume case setting in a deliberate manner when the court re-opens. During the emergency limited closure, the in-custody only calendar will run Monday through Saturday to ensure that in-custody individuals continue to have the opportunity to present motions for release and that their cases progress as quickly as possible under these emergency circumstances.
For ticket fines and fees, Seattle Municipal Court has suspended the $3.60 transaction fee for online payments and suspended the late penalty for tickets that are not responded to within 15 days. The court is not referring outstanding tickets or fines to collections during this emergency limited closure. All ticket hearings will be postponed until no sooner than May 4, 2020.
With the closure of the courthouse, in-person probation and day reporting have been suspended, and no new cases are being assigned. Community service and work crew obligations have been extended, and work crew activities have been suspended.