Superior Court Statistical Reporting Manual

8. CASES COMPLETED

Case processing time standards are published in the Washington Rules of Court. The time standards identify three major milestones in the life of a case: filing, resolution, and completion. Case "resolution" occurs when the case is "tried, settled, or otherwise concluded;" that is, resolution is defined as the adjudication or settlement of all issues in a case (e.g., court decision, notice of settlement, oral order).

Case "completion" occurs when all necessary dispositive documents have been filed with the clerk.

A case must be resolved before it can be completed. In certain situations, resolution and completion can occur simultaneously (e.g., order of dismissal). The case resolution date must be on the same day or prior to the case completion date entered on the SCOMIS basic screen.

The following are examples of completion for some domestic judicial orders and decrees.

Judicial Order/Decree

Decree
Order of Dismissal
Decree of Invalidity
Decree of Separation
Decree of Dissolution
Order of Dismissal
Order of Dismissal/Closure on Clerk's Motion
Decree of Custody

Note: Cases reopened are discussed on page 3-6.

CASE COMPLETION CATEGORIES - Case completions are categorized into three statistical reporting categories, and are recorded on the SCOMIS basic screen. Documenting case completion entails recording the type of case completion and the date it occurred. Following are the definitions and codes for case completion categories.

8.A. JUDGMENT/ORDER/DECREE FILED (JODF)

Case completion due to the filing of final dispositive documents by parties or their representatives (e.g., judgment, order for default judgment, order of dismissal not on motion of clerk).

8.B. COMPLETED WHEN FILED (CPFD)

Case completion for a matter normally resolved and completed at the same time it is opened (e.g., URESA cases, transfers of judgments filed with the clerk).

8.C. UNCONTESTED COMPLETION (UNCL)

Case completion for an uncontested matter that is not dismissed.

8.D. CASE DISMISSED/CLOSED ON MOTION OF CLERK DUE TO LITIGANT INACTIVITY (CDCM)

Case completion due to the filing of an order of dismissal/closure on clerk's motion. (Do not use for order of dismissal on motion of a party other than the clerk.)

*Statistical Completion (STCL) - The statistical completion code should only be used for a previously resolved and completed pre-SCOMIS case that is added to the system to file a document or record a proceeding held. "STCL" resolutions and completions are not counted in the caseload statistics.

As an alternative to the "STCL" completion code, the appropriate resolution and completion codes can be used so that the legal record more accurately reflects the case outcome (see Historical Resolution and Completion Codes in Appendix E). If this method is used, it is important to enter the correct resolution and completion dates so that these events are not (re)counted in the caseload statistics and do not distort pending caseload reports.