Seattle Police Court records, 1886-1956.

ArchivalResource

Washington (State). Municipal Court (Seattle). Seattle Police Court records, 1886-1956.

Seattle Police Court records, 1886-1956.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/162523806

Court dockets, indexes, and case summaries relating to cases heard in the Police Court. Dockets include summary of cases heard in Police Court involving violations of Seattle's criminal codes. Each case includes a docket number, date, defendant's name, offense, plea, costs, and disposition of the case. By the 1910s, witnesses, complainants, and bail were often also included. The earliest cases include a narrative account of the progression of the case, but in 1889 the courts started using forms for easier entry of information. The first eight volumes overlap in time with the next eight, through 14 Oct. 1890. The system changed from having two or more judges to one on 15 Oct. 1890, and after this date, the volumes run sequentially until the end of the series. Some of the most common offenses listed in the early volumes are drunkenness, vagrancy, and disorderly conduct, with prostitution and fighting also making frequent appearances. Traffic violations appear on a large scale beginning in the 1920s. Some of the more unusual offenses include driving across a fire hose, using profane language, and "riding a horse in a public street at a fast rate of six miles an hour." Indexes to the Police Court Dockets (5601-01) list the defendant's name, the volume or docket number in which the case appears, and the page number of the volume. (The first volume lists only the defendant's name and case number.) Each volume indexes between three and twenty-one dockets; within each index volume defendants are organized by first letter of their last name and then listed in order of their case number. The Minute books series contain summary information of cases heard in Police Court and corresponds to the Police Court Dockets (5601-01). It was probably used to compute the final costs related to the cases; includes date, case number corresponding to Police Court Docket case number, name of defendant, offense, names of attorneys, names of witnesses, plea, and judgment. Cases that were continued for two or more days have listings for each day they came before the judge. This record was compiled by the clerk of the court. The Police Judge's journal is a log of cases heard in Police Court and corresponds to the Police Court Dockets (5601-01). It includes summary information: date, name of defendant, offense, bail, plea, names of prosecution witnesses, and judgment. Beginning with vol. 5, the entries include a "sheet number" which corresponds to the "blotter number" in the Police Court Dockets. The Police Judge's journal does not include case numbers as found in the dockets. This series appears to be a daily record maintained by the judge during the course of hearings and trials. Cases that were continued for two or more days have listings for each day they came before the judge.

311 v.

Seattle Municipal Archives