Historical Note
The Municipal Court was created in 1955 under Chapter 290 of the
Washington State Laws. It has exclusive original jurisdiction over violations
of all city ordinances and collects fines and forfeitures relating thereto. The
first judicial officer of Seattle was appointed by City Council in 1875 from
among the King County Justices of the Peace serving the Seattle Precinct. In
1886, a charter amendment made each Seattle Precinct Justice a Police Justice
with jurisdiction over ordinance violations. In 1891, State Law created a
Municipal Court system that included a Justice Court and Police Court. Prior to
establishment of the current court system, city ordinances were adjudicated in
Police and Traffic Courts. Municipal Probation Service was established as part
of the Municipal Court in 1968.
Content Description
Annual reports for the Municipal Court date from 1945-1994; annual
reports will continue to be added to the series. When Municipal Probation
Services published a separate annual report, it is filed with reports for the
Municipal Court. Included with this series are annual reports for the Municipal
Traffic Court and Traffic Violations Bureau, dating from 1945-1968.
Municipal Traffic Court and Traffic Violations Bureau Annual Reports
include information on number of cases, amount of appeals paid, and fines,
forfeitures, and fees collected, as well as statistics regarding tickets
issued, persons books, cars impounded, and service calls. Some reports also
include narrative. Also included in some reports are statistics on the types of
traffic cases tried, as well as jail sentences and license suspensions and
revocations.
Police Division reports contain statistics on arrests and cases filed;
the report for 1949 cites public drunkenness as the primary reason for an
increase in arrests from previous years.
Municipal Court annual reports contain statistics on number of cases,
number of and outcome of appeals, fines and forfeitures, monies collected for
various departments, and types of cases dealt with by the Justice Court. Later
reports include administrative information on the court and case loads.
Beginning in 1971, reports include narrative as well as statistics.