Administrative Office of the Courts

Policy Changes

Add 5th Skagit Superior Crt. Judge

The Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC), in partnership with Skagit County, receives ongoing funding to establish a fifth Superior Court judgeship in Skagit County. For the past two decades, the county’s population has grown by approximately 20% without any additional judges added to the court, leading to an increase in volume, complexity, and duration of cases. The substantial rise in judicial workload, particularly in recurring motion and review calendars, has reduced the time available to conduct trials and resolve cases. a range of measures to improve efficiency, current resources are insufficient to manage the expanding caseload. The addition of a fifth judge is necessary to maintain timely access to justice and is supported by the AOC’s Judicial Needs Estimate. (General Fund - State)

Add 9th Yakima Superior Crt. Judge

The Administrative Office of the Courts and Yakima County jointly request ongoing funding to add a ninth judge to the Yakima County Superior Court. Yakima County Superior Court has operated with a bench of eight judges for 27 years while the county’s population has grown and with it, the volume and complexity of caseloads, particularly over the past three years. The court has taken steps to adopt national best practices, leveraged technical assistance, and harnessed technology where appropriate, but these efforts are no longer sufficient on their own. (General Fund - State)

Continue CLJ CMS Deployment

The Administrative Office of the Courts requests funding and 5 FTE staff to increase the number of “go-live” implementations of a new case management system for district and municipal courts and their probation offices. This new system, Enterprise Justice, replaces the antiquated and outdated DISCIS system. After implementing this new system in two pilot courts, it became clear that the project needs additional staff to fully support future courts as they adopt the new case management system. (General Fund - State)

Continue Judicial Onboarding

The Administrative Office of the Courts, on behalf of the District and Municipal Court Judges Association, requests ongoing funding to continue its onboarding program for judicial officers in courts of limited jurisdiction (CLJs). A large experience gap exists amongst the current judicial population, with many judges having served for fewer than five years or lacking access to peer-level expertise. This funding will renew the agreement with a retired judge as a “jurist-in-residence” to mentor newly appointed and elected judges. This proposal continues the program established with funding from the 2024 supplemental budget, which has successfully provided mentorship and resources to over 50 judicial officers since January 2025. (General Fund - State)

Continue Legal Self-Help Centers

The Administrative Office of the Courts requests funding to continue supporting self-help centers for court users in Spokane and Grays Harbor counties. Legal self-help centers provide critical services for litigants without legal representation, mainly in the areas of family law, protection orders, and minor guardianships. The centers’ efforts help unrepresented litigants of varying income levels with these complex case types. National research on self-help centers in state courts across the country confirms their essential role in increasing access to justice for unrepresented litigants. (General Fund - State)

Continue Title11 Guardianship

Funding is requested for fiscal years 2026 and 2027 to sustain increasing guardian and conservatorship services consistent with Title 11, Uniform Guardianship Act superior court obligations. These funds are passed through the Administrative Office of the Courts, directly to superior courts. (General Fund - State)

DES Central Services

Adjustments are made to reflect each agency's anticipated share of charges from the Department of Enterprise Services for Capitol Campus costs; real estate, risk management, and small agency services; the Perry Street and Capitol Campus child care centers; enterprise applications, and other items. (General Fund - State)

GOV Central Services

Adjustments are made to reflect each agency's anticipated share of charges from the Office of the Governor for the Office of Equity. (General Fund - State)

Juv. Crt. Early Intervention Funds

Funding is requested for fiscal years 2026 and 2027 to sustain critical services, required attorney representation, and programming consistent with existing superior court obligations. These funds would be passed through the Administrative Office of the Courts, directly to the superior courts. Funded program areas include: direct services for truant and at-risk youth, children in need of services, and their families. (General Fund - State)

Legal Services

Adjustments are made for each agency's anticipated cost of legal services provided by the Office of the Attorney General. Funding provided in the central service model is not all inclusive, as legal services expenditures are based on consumption. (General Fund - State)

OFM Central Services

Adjustments are made to reflect each agency's anticipated share of charges from the Office of Financial Management for existing statewide applications, the One Washington program, and other central services. (General Fund - State)

Restore Thurs. County Impact Reimb.

The Administrative Office of the Courts and Thurston County jointly request funding to reimburse Thurston County for the impact that civil cases against the state have on the County Clerk and Superior Court’s workload. Thurston County is typically the sole venue for lawsuits against the state, and the disproportionate impact to the court’s caseload has historically been reimbursed by the state to prevent delays in other parts of the court’s caseload. (General Fund - State)

Self-Insurance Liability Premium

Adjustments are made to reflect each agency's share of actuarially projected costs of the self-insurance liability premium. (General Fund - State)

Stabilize Interpreter Reimb Pgm

The Administrative Office of the Courts requests ongoing funding to provide greater interpreter access to the court system and better support language access to court customers in the 125 contracted courts in the Language Access and Interpreter Reimbursement Program. Increasing the use of highly skilled and trained credentialed court interpreters and translating materials (forms, documents, signs, and resources) expands access to justice for court users who are not proficient in English or who are deaf or hard of hearing. (General Fund - State)

Strengthen Efforts Improve Justice

The Administrative Office of the Courts requests 1.0 FTE staff and funding in fiscal year 2027 and ongoing to adequately staff two critical judicial branch initiatives that strengthen Washington’s efforts to improve access to justice. The Commission on Children in Foster Care and the Disability Justice Task Force are at crucial points in their work, and failure to adequately staff them will stall years of progress made in both groups to improve justice for kids, families, and people with disabilities who are trying to access the courts. (General Fund - State)

WTS Central Services

Adjustments are made to reflect each agency's anticipated share of charges from Washington Technology Solutions for the Office of Cybersecurity, the state network, enterprise services, small agency IT services, enterprise architecture and data management, Microsoft 365 licenses, and other items. (General Fund - State)