Superior court clerk fees

AN ACT Relating to superior court clerk fees; amending RCW 1
36.18.020; adding a new section to chapter 36.33 RCW; and adding a 2
new section to chapter 36.40 RCW. 3
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:4
Sec. 1. RCW 36.18.020 and 2022 c 260 s 17 are each amended to 5
read as follows: 6
(1) Revenue collected under this section is subject to division 7
with the state under RCW 36.18.025 and with the county or regional 8
law library fund under RCW 27.24.070, except as provided in 9
subsection (5) of this section. 10
(2) Clerks of superior courts shall collect the following fees 11
for their official services: 12
(a) In addition to any other fee required by law, the party 13
filing the first or initial document in any civil action, including, 14
but not limited to an action for restitution, adoption, or change of 15
name, and any party filing a counterclaim, cross-claim, or third-16
party claim in any such civil action, shall pay, at the time the 17
document is filed, a fee of $200 except, in an unlawful detainer 18
action under chapter 59.18 or 59.20 RCW for which the plaintiff shall 19
pay a case initiating filing fee of $45, or in proceedings filed 20
under RCW 28A.225.030 alleging a violation of the compulsory 21
Z-0156.2
HOUSE BILL 1207
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2025 Regular Session
By Representatives Thai and Ryu; by request of Secretary of State
Prefiled 01/09/25. Read first time 01/13/25. Referred to Committee
on Civil Rights & Judiciary.
p. 1 HB 1207
attendance laws where the petitioner shall not pay a filing fee. The 1
$45 filing fee under this subsection for an unlawful detainer action 2
shall not include an order to show cause or any other order or 3
judgment except a default order or default judgment in an unlawful 4
detainer action. 5
(b) Any party, except a defendant in a criminal case, filing the 6
first or initial document on an appeal from a court of limited 7
jurisdiction or any party on any civil appeal, shall pay, when the 8
document is filed, a fee of $200. 9
(c) For filing of a petition for judicial review as required 10
under RCW 34.05.514 a filing fee of $200. 11
(d) For filing of a petition for an antiharassment protection 12
order under RCW 7.105.100 a filing fee of $53. 13
(e) For filing the notice of debt due for the compensation of a 14
crime victim under RCW 7.68.120(2)(a) a fee of $200.15
(f) In probate proceedings, the party instituting such 16
proceedings, shall pay at the time of filing the first document 17
therein, a fee of $200. 18
(g) For filing any petition to contest a will admitted to probate 19
or a petition to admit a will which has been rejected, or a petition 20
objecting to a written agreement or memorandum as provided in RCW 21
11.96A.220, there shall be paid a fee of $200. 22
(h) Upon conviction or plea of guilty, upon failure to prosecute 23
an appeal from a court of limited jurisdiction as provided by law, or 24
upon affirmance of a conviction by a court of limited jurisdiction, 25
an adult defendant in a criminal case shall be liable for a fee of 26
two hundred dollars, except this fee shall not be imposed on a 27
defendant who is indigent as defined in RCW 10.01.160(3). Upon motion 28
by the defendant, the court may waive or reduce any fee previously 29
imposed under this subsection if the court finds that the defendant 30
is indigent as defined in RCW 10.01.160(3). 31
(i) ((With the exception of demands for jury hereafter made and 32
garnishments hereafter issued, civil actions and probate proceedings 33
filed prior to midnight, July 1, 1972, shall be completed and 34
governed by the fee schedule in effect as of January 1, 1972. 35
However, no )) No fee shall be assessed if an order of dismissal on 36
the clerk's record be filed as provided by rule of the supreme court.37
(3) No fee shall be collected when a petition for relinquishment 38
of parental rights is filed pursuant to RCW 26.33.080 or for forms 39
and instructional brochures provided under RCW 7.105.115.40
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(4) No fee shall be collected when an abstract of judgment is 1
filed by the county clerk of another county for the purposes of 2
collection of legal financial obligations. 3
(5)(a) In addition to the fees required to be collected under 4
this section, clerks of the superior courts must collect surcharges 5
as provided in this subsection (5) of which 75 percent must be 6
remitted to the state treasurer for deposit in the judicial 7
stabilization trust account and 25 percent must be retained by the 8
county. 9
(b) On filing fees required to be collected under subsection 10
(2)(b) of this section, a surcharge of $30 must be collected.11
(c) On all filing fees required to be collected under this 12
section, except for fees required under subsection (2)(b), (d), and 13
(h) of this section, a surcharge of $40 must be collected.14
(6) On filing fees required to be collected under subsection 15
(2)(a), (b), (c), (e), (f), and (g) of this section, a surcharge of 16
$100 must be collected, with $35 transmitted by the county treasurer 17
to the state treasurer to be deposited in the following manner: $5 in 18
the library-archives building account established in RCW 43.07.410, 19
and $30 to be deposited in the account identified in RCW 40.14.024. 20
The remaining funds must be deposited with the county treasurer and 21
retained in a clerk's administrative assistance fund to be used for 22
the county clerk's office operations.23
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. A new section is added to chapter 36.33 24
RCW to read as follows: 25
Each county shall establish a county clerk administrative 26
assistance fund, held by the county treasurer. The fund must be used 27
only for the statutory obligations of the county clerk's office. Only 28
the county clerk may authorize expenditures from the fund, and an 29
appropriation is not required for expenditures. 30
NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. A new section is added to chapter 36.40 31
RCW to read as follows: 32
The county clerk administrative assistance fund, established 33
under section 2 of this act, is not subject to appropriation or 34
budgets by the county legislative authority. 35
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