Criminal Hearings & Descriptions

Hearing Types


There are many types of hearings scheduled in Municipal Court. The following descriptions contain the hearing title and definitions. Depending on the type of violation, a person may appear for one or several of these hearing types during the life of a case.


Arraignment (Criminal Proceeding)


This is the first appearance in Court on a criminal charge where a defendant is advised of the nature of the charges, their constitutional rights, and enters a plea. The plea determines how the case will move forward.

At arraignment, unless the defendant appears with a lawyer, the court advises the defendant on the record of the right to trial by jury, if applicable, and of the right to be represented by a lawyer and to have an appointed lawyer if the defendant cannot afford one. CrRLJ 4.1(a)(2).


Trial


All persons charged with a crime have a right to a jury trial. In Municipal Court, a jury is made up of six persons. In some cases a defendant may choose to waive his or her right to a jury and request a trial before the judge only. A trial before the judge is commonly referred to as a bench trial.


Pre Trial Hearing and Readiness Hearings


At a pretrial hearing, the parties advise the court of how they wish the case to proceed. If there is a plea bargain, it will be presented to the judge at that time. If the case is proceeding to jury trial, a readiness hearing and trial date will be determined. In some circumstances, it may be necessary to set a motion hearing prior to the trial date.


Sentencing and Review Hearings


If a defendant pleads guilty to a criminal charge it is sometimes set over for a final imposition of any fines, jail or probation supervision. This hearing is called a sentencing proceeding.

Review hearings are usually set in order to track progress on various conditions of a sentence and to ensure compliance.

E-filing

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To file with the Court, the documents should be in the following format:

  • PDF for documents
  • JPG for photos

sent via email to Courts@PuyallupWA.Gov




Failure to Appear or Pay


Failure to appear at any hearing can result in an issuance of a warrant and/or additional penalties, referral of your fines to a collection agency and potential suspension of your driving privileges.  

All NSF checks will be accessed a $30 fee and will be treated as a failure to respond.

You may submit a Show Cause request for judicial consideration if you have failed to appear for a hearing that resulted in a warrant being issued and/or pay for your court obligations that resulted in your fines being assigned to collections.  Please allow 2-3 weeks for response.