Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest and crime counts are the ones each agency reported to the FBI, as the FBI held them on October 8, 2026. Every office link was opened and checked against the office's own site between September 23, 2026 and September 30, 2026.
Yakima County, Washington, has about 259,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). In Washington the public criminal record is the court file, kept by the County Clerk; the statewide criminal history kept by the Washington State Patrol is open to anyone who asks. This guide says where each record of a criminal case from Yakima County is kept and how it is seen.
This guide covers the court file, the statewide record, local arrest records, the crimes behind the records, sex offender registry, records requests and common questions.
Related guides: Yakima County public records, Yakima County arrest records, Yakima County warrants, Yakima County inmate search, Yakima County court records, Washington arrest records and Washington inmate search.
Criminal Cases in the Yakima County Superior Court
A criminal case from Yakima County is filed in the Yakima County Superior Court or the District Court, which takes misdemeanors, traffic infractions, small claims and civil cases up to $100,000, and the court file, kept by the County Clerk, is the record of it that the public may see.
For Yakima County, SearchSystems opened and checked the court records page for the county at yakimacounty.us/439/Find-My-Court-Date (page title: Find My Court Date | Yakima County, WA), phone 509-574-1804, Monday - Friday 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m., which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
Statewide, Washington Courts Search Case Records is the Administrative Office of the Courts' free statewide case search.
The Washington Criminal History and Your Own Copy
Washington is one of the states that lets anyone look up another person's statewide criminal history: WATCH lets anyone search conviction records by name online, for $12 a search, through the Washington State Patrol. The result is the repository record, what agencies reported to the state, which is wider than one county's court index but can lag it. The search is on the Washington State Patrol site.
Arrest Records Kept Locally in Yakima County
The Yakima County Sheriff's Office and the agencies that report for Yakima, Sunnyside, Grandview, Toppenish, Selah, Union Gap and six more cities keep the arrest records in Yakima County: the report and the booking record of each arrest stay with the agency that made it, separate from the court file and from the state repository.
Together, the ten agencies in Yakima County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 9,323 arrests to the FBI that year; how each case ended is in the court file, not in the arresting agency's.
The agencies and their counts, year by year, are in Yakima County arrest records.
The Crimes Behind the Records: Yakima County in 2025
The eight agencies in Yakima County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 774 violent and 3,924 property crimes to the FBI that year; the seven of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 4,300 crimes in 2025 against 5,084 in 2024. Each reported crime is a report on file with the agency that took it, and each arrest that follows is the start of a criminal record.
The full crime section, agency by agency, is on the Yakima County public records guide.
The Sex Offender Registry for Yakima County
Registered sex offenders living in Yakima County are listed on the Washington Sex Offender Registry, run by the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs. Level 2 and Level 3 offenders are listed online; Level 1 offenders are not.
Registration itself is done in person with the local agency where the registrant lives: the sheriff's office, or the city police in a city with its own department.
Asking an Agency in Yakima County for a Record
An arrest report, a booking record or a local criminal history letter comes from the agency that holds it, not from the court.
Under the Public Records Act (RCW 42.56) a county office must answer a request within 5 business days, and it may charge for copies at 15 cents a page, and set fees for electronic records.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are criminal records public in Yakima County?
The court files of criminal cases are public, and so is the statewide criminal history kept by the Washington State Patrol: WATCH lets anyone search conviction records by name online, for $12. The arrest report itself is released by the agency that made the arrest, under the Public Records Act (RCW 42.56).
Can I search Yakima County criminal cases online?
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county is at yakimacounty.us/439/Find-My-Court-Date (page title: Find My Court Date | Yakima County, WA). Statewide, Washington Courts Search Case Records is the Administrative Office of the Courts' free statewide case search.
How do I get my own Washington criminal history?
Through the same WATCH search, run on yourself.
Is this the official Yakima County website?
No. SearchSystems.net is an independent public records guide, online since 1997. It links to the official county, court and state offices described above and does not hold records, charge for them or take requests.