Washington Background Check: The State Patrol's WATCH and Its Records Section

Written by SearchSystems.net from Washington's own systems: the Washington State Patrol Criminal History page, the WATCH, Washington Access to Criminal History, site, the Request for Conviction Criminal History Record form, the Bank Card Authorization form, each read on October 14, 2026 by the SearchSystems editorial team.

Searching WATCH

A WATCH search returns one of several answers: a candidate list of records that match or closely match the search criteria, a NO RECORD or NO EXACT MATCH FOUND response, meaning no conviction record in the Patrol's database matches, a possible DUPLICATE MATCH when two or more records share the exact name or date of birth, Exact Match Available when one candidate matches both, or Pending, when the result awaits review by the Patrol and should post within 24 to 48 hours. A new web user creates a credit card account with a mailing and physical address and a ten character password, acknowledges the $11.00 charge per name, and sees results purged from the account after 60 days. To verify a WATCH rap sheet by fingerprint, the subject's right thumbprint goes on the front lower right corner of the report and is mailed with a letter to the Identification and Background Check Section, with no additional fee for the comparison. Billed and non profit accounts are applied for on the application packet by mail or to WATCH.Help@wsp.wa.gov, technical questions go to (360) 534-2000 option 2, and questions about the content of a criminal history to crimhis@wsp.wa.gov with a name, daytime phone, email and postal address.

Requesting by mail or in Olympia

The Request for Conviction Criminal History Record, revised April 2026 under RCW 10.97, carries three fees: $32 for conviction information by name and date of birth, which the form itself notes costs $11 with an immediate response on the website, $58 for conviction information by fingerprints with a full set on a card, and $15 per notary seal for a notarized letter. The requested information is furnished solely on the basis of name or description similarity, positive identification or non identification comes only with fingerprints, and the applicant may be advised of the inquiry. Results go by mail, 7 to 14 business days, or through a pre existing WSP Portal account arranged at CRDapplicantfollowup@wsp.wa.gov; checks with notary letters are mailed. Payment is by check, money order or the Bank Card Authorization for Visa, MasterCard or American Express, which the Patrol asks to be the only form carrying card numbers. In person, the same $32 and $58 requests are taken only at the Olympia office at 106 11th Ave SW, Suite 1300, payable by cash, check or card; children are not allowed in the fingerprinting room and must be supervised at all times.

Fingerprinting and your own record

Fingerprints are taken only at the Olympia office, Monday through Friday except legal holidays, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. with the office closed from noon to 1:00 p.m. and arrival by 4:30 p.m., for $16.00 by cash, check or card, with valid government photo identification and the Patrol's fingerprint room rules read first. The criminal history page gives two ways to see your own non conviction information, which is for personal use only: a completed record review by mailing a fingerprint card and $12.00, with the copy returned to the address on the card, or a free in person record review during business hours at the Criminal History Records Section, not at any other Patrol office, where fingerprints establish identity and the complete record may be inspected for a reasonable period not exceeding thirty minutes. An inmate inspects their complete Washington record by having the jail or correctional facility submit a fingerprint card with the reason marked RECORD REVIEW/CHALLENGE, at no fee.

Dismissals, vacated convictions and deletions

The Criminal History Section processes court orders that change a record: juvenile seals and destroys, vacates, deletions, dismissals, certificates of discharge and restorations of firearm rights, sent by fax, email or mail. A dismissal, acquittal or decision not to prosecute, except an acquittal by reason of insanity, is non conviction information, not disseminated to the public but kept for criminal justice inquiries for the maximum state retention period and deleted only under RCW 10.97.060 or a court order; a dismissal entered after probation, suspension or deferral of sentence stays adverse to the subject, shown as guilty with a dismissed update. A vacated conviction becomes vacated status and is no longer disseminated to the public, although the FBI disseminates all record information on a fingerprint check, vacated incidents included. Sealed juvenile cases leave public view, destroyed juvenile cases are physically destroyed and cannot return, and both need an order from the court of jurisdiction. Non conviction information may be deleted at the subject's request under RCW 10.97.060 on the Request for Expungement Deletion of Non-Conviction Records, checked against the Patrol's expungement checklist updated July 2024 and mailed to the Criminal History Support Unit at PO Box 42633; deletions apply to state and federal records only and do not touch local records. A restoration of firearm rights is noted on the case with the judge's signature date and the RCW, and passed to the FBI, but the Patrol does not decide anyone's right to possess a firearm; purchase checks are the FBI NICS office's at (877) 324-6427. Records are retained in the Washington State Identification System until the person reaches 120 years of age, measured from the newest date of birth on file.

Challenges and the Compromised Identity Claim

A person requests a modification or challenge of their record on the Request for Modification of Record Form; a substantiated challenge is corrected by the Criminal History Records Section, and the update may be sent to those who received the record earlier. Criminal identity theft, in which an arrested person gives another's name and date of birth, makes the victim's identifiers a permanent part of the thief's record once the arrest reaches the Washington State Identification System, and people with common names suffer the same way. The Compromised Identity Claim program gives the claimant a letter with their state identification number confirming they are not the other person, a wallet card with name, SID, photograph and thumbprint, a notation on every background check that a personal identification card is on file, and a personal identification record with the section, applied for on the Compromised Identity Claim form of August 2020. The section also helps readers navigate a rap sheet and its terms, though never the particulars of a court case, and only for background checks the Patrol itself produced.

Who gets the full record

Certified criminal justice agencies request and receive unrestricted criminal history for criminal justice purposes, with Rap Back subscriptions notifying them when a person whose prints are on file with the FBI is arrested, and the WATCH-CJ account forms serve them. The public gets conviction information only, plus pending arrests under a year old and registered offenders. The Patrol's own comparison with internet background check products is that private companies link records by name only, so a common name can carry someone else's convictions or hide the subject's own, while the Patrol retrieves Washington history from its fingerprint based systems.

Reading a Washington result

A WATCH or mailed result is a conviction record matched by name and date of birth, with the Patrol's own warning that only fingerprints positively link a person to it, and a $58 fingerprint request or the free thumbprint comparison settles identity. The public never sees non conviction data, vacated or sealed matters or misdemeanor traffic violations, while the FBI still reports vacated incidents on its own fingerprint checks; the subject can read their own non conviction record for $12 or free in Olympia, delete it under RCW 10.97.060 when it qualifies, and carry a compromised identity card when someone else's arrest bears their name.

Questions about background checks in Washington

Related Washington records

The State Patrol record is one of the Washington records this site covers: the Washington court records guide explains the courts' own case search, the arrest records guide covers what a booking makes public, the sex offender registry guide covers the registry WATCH also reports, and the Washington county pages list each sheriff and county clerk.