Mason County Criminal Docket Searches
Begin at the official Washington Courts Case Search. Select Superior for a Mason County felony or general-jurisdiction case. Select District/Municipal for a Mason District misdemeanor, gross misdemeanor, criminal traffic case, probable-cause matter, or a Shelton Municipal offense. Name, case number, and business searches are available. First and last name are required on the name form, while the middle name is optional. Narrowing the court and case type reduces false matches.
Keep the full case number, court name, filing date, type, and status from a possible match. A name match alone does not prove identity. The state warns that its index can be delayed, incomplete, or inaccurate, so the court of filing controls. Use Odyssey for Superior case information and re:SearchWA for limited-jurisdiction information where available. Call or visit the correct clerk when the portal does not resolve a current setting or disposition.
- Open Washington Case Search and choose Superior or District/Municipal.
- Select Mason Superior, Mason District, or Shelton Municipal Court.
- Search by full name or exact case number and narrow the case type.
- Compare filing date, court, charges, settings, plea, and disposition.
- Ask the filing court for the current file or a certified copy when needed.
Mason Felony Docket Path
A felony can produce entries in two Mason County courts. District Court may handle a probable-cause or preliminary stage, while Mason County Superior Court holds the felony trial case. The records may carry different case numbers. Searchers who stop at the limited-court entry can miss the later Superior docket, and those who begin only in Superior may miss the first appearance.
| Court | Criminal work | Search route |
|---|---|---|
| Mason District | Misdemeanors, gross misdemeanors, criminal traffic, probable cause | Case Search and re:SearchWA |
| Mason Superior | Felonies, sentencing, post-judgment events | Case Search and Odyssey |
| Shelton Municipal | City misdemeanors and infractions | Case Search, re:SearchWA, or city clerk |
Venue follows the charge and court authority, not just a Mason County mailing address. Shelton Municipal jurisdiction is limited to city matters. District Court serves the county, while federal criminal matters belong in the federal system and will not appear in these Washington state portals.
Criminal Dockets: What They Show
A Mason County criminal docket is a chronological event list, not a narrative of guilt. It identifies the filing court and assigns a number such as court-issued case number. It can list a complaint, summons, warrant label, arraignment, motions, pleas, trial settings, disposition, sentence, and later review events. An entry may point to a document that anonymous users cannot open.
| Case number | The full court-assigned identifier, which must be paired with the court name. |
|---|---|
| Charge | An allegation and cited offense, not proof of conviction. |
| Setting | An arraignment, pretrial, motion, trial, review, or sentencing date. |
| Plea | The defendant's recorded response, distinct from the filed charge. |
| Disposition | The recorded result, such as dismissal, acquittal, conviction, or deferred process. |
Read each label in sequence. A filed complaint is an allegation. An arraignment is not a conviction. Probable cause is not a final finding of guilt, and a trial setting does not prove a trial occurred. For legal effect, obtain the actual judgment and sentence or other entered order from the clerk.
Mason Criminal Terms in Context
Short labels save space but can mislead. Mason County criminal court docket entries should be read as procedural markers. The filing and result are separate facts, and a later entry may change an earlier status.
- Probable cause
- A preliminary finding that can support further felony process, not a conviction.
- Pretrial
- A scheduling or case-management event that may address motions, discovery, or readiness.
- Disposition
- The recorded case result, which may be a dismissal, acquittal, conviction, or deferred outcome.
- Review
- A later compliance or status hearing, not necessarily a new charge.
- Warrant
- A docket label that requires direct court verification for current status.
Portal updates do not always occur at the same time. A payment, satisfaction, release, sealing order, or changed setting can reach one system before another. When action depends on the entry, verify it with the court rather than relying on a cached result.
Criminal Case Stages on the Docket
A Mason County criminal case can start with a complaint or probable-cause event, then move to arraignment and pretrial settings. Motions may appear before a plea or trial. The court then enters a disposition and, after a conviction or plea, a sentence. Review, compliance, financial-obligation, or post-judgment entries can continue afterward. Not every case uses each stage, and several settings may occur before a result.
Docket flow: Filing › Arraignment › Pretrial › Plea or Trial › Disposition › Sentencing
Mason Superior criminal dockets are generally set Monday and Tuesday at 9 a.m. unless otherwise scheduled. The court no longer assigns the criminal docket alphabetically by last name. Older instructions may therefore be wrong. Confirm the current calendar and case entry before travel.
Mason Criminal Hearing Modes
Superior criminal proceedings are generally in person. Jail or Department of Corrections video appearances are possible. Attorneys, staff, defendants, and victims may request virtual participation through Court Administration, ideally at least one business day ahead, but approval is required. A Zoom listing does not grant public viewing or replace a court order.
Remote appearance: Treat the current calendar and order as controlling. Confirm approval with Mason County Court Administration before assuming a remote appearance is allowed.
Public viewing of a criminal matter is also generally in person unless another arrangement is approved. That distinction matters. A remote appearance link serves case participants under court direction; it is not automatically a public broadcast link.
Mason County Criminal Docket Courts
Mason County Superior Court handles felony trials and related sentencing or post-judgment work. The Superior Court Clerk at 419 N 4th Street in Shelton keeps that record. Odyssey provides public case information, but anonymous users do not receive document access. The clerk controls copies, certification, restricted material, and older-file research.
Mason County District Court handles county misdemeanors, gross misdemeanors, criminal traffic, and preliminary felony work. Its public location is 414 W Franklin Street, with phone service at 360-427-9670 extension 339. Shelton Municipal Court handles city misdemeanors and infractions. Contacting the exact court avoids sending a request to the wrong counter.
For a broader lookup by name or number, the related Mason County docket search distinguishes the statewide index, Odyssey, and re:SearchWA.
Mason Therapeutic Court Records
Mason County lists Drug Court, Family Recovery Court, Mental Health Court, and Veteran's Court. These programs connect to underlying court cases. They do not form a separate statewide public docket database. Start with the filing court and case number, then ask the clerk or program what public entries exist.
A public docket may show a review or compliance event while treatment plans, assessments, health data, and participant details stay restricted. Family Recovery Court may also intersect with dependency or family matters. Never treat the program name as proof of admission, completion, failure, or a new criminal charge.
The official Mason County Therapeutic Courts office is at 414 N 5th Street, Building 6, Shelton, and the general line is 360-427-9670 extension 296. The underlying court remains the source for the official docket.
Access Rules for Criminal Dockets
Washington GR 31 favors public access to court records, including dockets and registers of actions, while preserving specific limits. GR 15 governs sealing and redaction. A missing image may reflect anonymous-access limits, a restriction, or portal coverage. It does not establish why the document is unavailable.
Key access rules:
GR 31 defines court records and supplies the main public-access framework.
GR 15 governs sealing, redaction, and destruction.
ARLJ 9 addresses disclosure in District and Municipal Courts.
Juvenile, victim, witness, protected-address, medical, and treatment information may face added limits. The successful official capture of RCW 13.50.050 shows the separate statutory path for juvenile confidentiality.
The statute view reinforces why an adult criminal search process cannot simply be applied to a Mason County juvenile matter. Ask the Juvenile Court or clerk which public facts can be released.
Mason Criminal Docket Caseload
Official 2025 reports counted 320 non-traffic misdemeanor charges disposed in Mason District and 396 in Shelton Municipal. DUI or physical-control categories added 245 District and 50 Municipal dispositions. These are reported charges, not unique people, convictions, or crime rates. A single case may produce many docket events.
The categories show why both limited courts matter in a search. They do not supply a person's outcome. Open the matching Mason County criminal court docket, find the actual disposition entry, and verify the judgment with the filing clerk.