How to Seal Court Records in Washington State

To seal a court record in Washington state, you file a motion under General Rule 15 asking a judge to find that your privacy or safety concerns outweigh the public’s right to see the record. For a criminal conviction, there is a step before that: you must first get the conviction vacated under the statute that applies to your offense, and only then can you move to seal. Non-conviction records (dismissals, acquittals, arrests that never led to charges) and juvenile records follow different rules with shorter or no waiting periods.

The GR 15 Standard a Judge Applies

Every sealing request runs through the same test. A judge can seal a court record only after making written findings that specific, compelling privacy or safety concerns justify restricting public access.¹ The parties agreeing is not enough. The judge needs an independent reason.

GR 15 lists circumstances that can tip the balance in your favor: sealing is allowed by another statute, a conviction has been vacated, the record contains sensitive personal identifiers, or some other compelling circumstance exists.¹ If redacting a few details would solve the problem, the court is supposed to choose redaction over full sealing. A motion to seal an entire file when only a Social Security number or home address needs hiding will likely be denied.

Convictions: Vacate First, Then Seal

Sealing a conviction is a two-step process. You first ask the court to vacate the conviction, which withdraws the guilty plea or sets aside the verdict and dismisses the charges. Only after that can you file a separate motion to seal under GR 15. The eligibility rules differ by offense class.

Felony Convictions

Under RCW 9.94A.640, you can apply to vacate a felony after completing your sentence and satisfying discharge requirements. The waiting period runs from the later of your sentencing date, release from confinement, or release from community custody.

Class B felony: ten years with no new convictions in any state or federal court during that period.
Class C felony: five years with no new convictions during that period.

The statute includes no provision for Class A felonies, so they are effectively ineligible. Violent offenses and crimes against persons are generally barred, with narrow carve-outs: second-degree assault, third-degree assault not against a law enforcement officer, and second-degree robbery can be vacated only if the conviction carried no firearm, deadly weapon, or sexual motivation enhancement. Felony DUI and physical control offenses under RCW 46.61.502 or 46.61.504 cannot be vacated at all.²

Misdemeanor and Gross Misdemeanor Convictions

Under RCW 9.96.060, the general waiting period is three years from the later of sentencing, release from confinement, or release from supervision or probation. You must have completed all terms of the sentence, including fines and restitution, before you can apply. If you still owe court-ordered financial obligations, you are not yet eligible.³

Domestic violence misdemeanors carry a five-year waiting period after completing all sentence terms, including any court-ordered treatment. You cannot have two or more domestic violence convictions from separate incidents, and you cannot be subject to any current protective, no-contact, or civil restraining order.³

Several categories of misdemeanor cannot be vacated under any circumstances: DUI and related impaired-driving offenses (including actual physical control and operating a railroad while intoxicated); sex offenses, obscenity, and sexual exploitation of children (with a narrow exception for failure to register as a sex offender); and violent offenses as defined by the sentencing law.³ If your conviction falls into one of these categories, the court has no discretion to help, regardless of how much time has passed or how clean your record has been.

Non-Conviction Records: Dismissals, Acquittals, and Arrests

If your case ended in an acquittal or dismissal, or charges were never filed after an arrest, you have a different path. These are “non-conviction data” under Washington law, and the process splits based on who holds the record.

For court records, you can file a motion to seal under GR 15 at any time. There is no statutory waiting period. You still have to clear the GR 15 balancing test.

For criminal history records held by law enforcement, RCW 10.97.060 sets its own clocks. You can request deletion of non-conviction data from an agency if at least two years have passed since a favorable disposition such as an acquittal or dismissal, or at least three years have passed since the arrest if no conviction resulted. You must also have no prior felony or gross misdemeanor conviction, and no new arrests during the waiting period.⁴ That request goes directly to the law enforcement agency holding the record, not to the court.

Juvenile Records

Juvenile records follow more favorable rules. Under RCW 13.50.260, some are sealed automatically at the disposition hearing: the court enters a sealing order when the juvenile is no longer on supervision and has paid all restitution to individual victims.⁵

Automatic sealing does not reach the most serious offenses, sex offenses, or drug offenses. Those require a motion and additional conditions:

Class A juvenile offenses: five consecutive years in the community after release or disposition with no new adjudications or convictions. The person must no longer be required to register as a sex offender, and the offense cannot have been first-degree rape, second-degree rape, or forcible indecent liberties.⁵
Class B, Class C, gross misdemeanor, and misdemeanor offenses: two consecutive years in the community after release, disposition, or completion of a diversion agreement with no new convictions.⁵

Once sealed, the proceedings are treated as if they never occurred. Identifying information maintained by the Washington State Patrol stays on file, however, and is not subject to the sealing order.⁴

Filing the Motion

The primary form for adults is the Motion to Redact or Seal, available on the Washington Courts website.⁶ Prepare a proposed order for the judge to sign as well. Before filing, pull together the full case name, case number, court name, and date of final disposition.

File with the clerk of the court that handled the original case. A court can only seal its own records, so the wrong courthouse gets you nowhere. After filing, serve copies on the prosecuting attorney’s office that handled the case. For criminal cases, GR 15 also requires reasonable notice to the victim (if they can be found) and to any agency supervising you on probation, community custody, or community placement.¹

At the hearing, the judge weighs your privacy or safety interests against the public’s interest in open records. The prosecutor can object. If the motion is granted, the judge signs the order and the clerk seals the physical and electronic records from public view, then transmits the order to the Washington State Patrol and relevant law enforcement so their files can be updated.

What Sealing Actually Does

Sealing hides a record from the general public, including most commercial background check services. Sealed records generally will not appear in standard employer screening reports. Sealing is not the same as destroying the file, though. The record continues to exist in restricted form, and certain agencies may still have access.

Sealing or vacating a court record does not automatically update records held by law enforcement, other government entities, or private companies. You have to contact those agencies separately.⁴ This is the step people most often skip. If a background check company already cached your record before the sealing, that older copy can keep surfacing until you notify the company directly.

One more boundary worth knowing: vacating a conviction does not automatically restore firearm rights. Federal and state firearm restrictions operate independently, and a vacated state conviction may still trigger a federal prohibition. Restoring gun rights is a separate legal process.

Fees and Fee Waivers

Filing fees vary by court and case type. Some courts charge no separate fee when a motion to seal is filed alongside another filing in the same case; others charge a motion fee. If you are reopening a case that has been closed for a while, you may face a new filing fee depending on how old or inactive it is.⁷

If you cannot afford the fee, GR 34 lets you apply for a waiver based on financial hardship. The application can be made in writing or orally, and you do not need a formal hearing.⁸ If a qualified legal services provider represents you, the attorney can submit a declaration confirming you were screened and found eligible, which shortens the process. Call the clerk’s office at the court where you plan to file to confirm the current fee and request a waiver form.

1
Washington State Courts. Washington Court Rules – GR 15 Destruction, Sealing, and Redaction of Court Records
2
Washington State Legislature. Revised Code of Washington 9.94A.640 – Vacation of Offenders Record of Conviction
3
Washington State Legislature. Revised Code of Washington 9.96.060 – Vacating Records of Conviction for Misdemeanor and Gross Misdemeanor
4
Washington State Courts. Sealing and Destroying Court Records, Vacating Convictions, and Deleting Criminal History Records
5
Washington State Legislature. Revised Code of Washington 13.50.260 – Sealing Hearings, Sealing of Records
6
Washington Courts. Motion to Redact or Seal
7
Washington Law Help. Seal or Redact a Court Record
8
Washington State Courts. GR 34 Waiver of Court and Clerks Fees and Charges