Online operations return to WA courts following computer breach

Courts across Washington state have resumed online operations,  such as electronic record searches and payment processing, after a computer breach took down vital online operations for two weeks.

The Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) announced on November 18 that systems were returning online to the Washington Courts network. AOC wrote that the unauthorized activity, which was detected November 4, was eliminated and there was no detection of a data breach.

Whatcom County Superior Court clerk Raylene King said on November 19 that almost everything was online except for e-filing, which could still be done in-person.

King said she hoped the backlog from the outage would end before Thanksgiving. The largest backlog was within the criminal department but some departments, such as probate and guardianship, would likely be caught up by November 20.

“The clerk’s office has an incredible team and they’re working really hard to get everything where it needs to be,” King said.

AOC anticipated disruptions as it brought up its system and planned to continue offline operations of its Blake Refund Bureau, Appellate Court Document Portal and e-filing for appellate courts until the network was stable.

More information is expected to be released after the state’s Judicial Information System Committee on Friday, December 6.

During the outage, Whatcom County Superior Court was unable to provide electronic court record searches, electronic filing, electronic payment processing and filing of nonemergent cases. The court continued to offer in-person filing, processing of emergency orders, access to physical court records and court programs.

For questions about how the outage impacts Whatcom County Superior Court, call the clerk’s office at 360/778-5560 or email Raylene King at rking@co.whatcom.wa.us.