Superior Court Statistical Reporting Manual

7. CASES RESOLVED

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, for mental illness/alcohol treatment cases, resolution is defined as the adjudication (court decision) of the first commitment petition filed in the case. This does not include the initial petition of detention.

Case "completion" occurs when all necessary dismissal, change of venue, or discharge 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., change of venue, 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 table displays examples of decisions and orders involving resolution and/or completion.

RESOLUTION AND COMPLETION

Proceeding Decision Resolved Completed

Court Decision to Commit Yes No

Judicial Orders

Order of Detention Yes No
Order of Dismissal Yes Yes
Order of Dismissal/Closure on Clerk's Motion Yes Yes
Change of Venue Yes Yes
Order of Closure Yes Yes

Non-Orders

Notice of Discharge Yes Yes
Notice of Closure No No
Notice of Clerk's Dismissal/Closure No No

Pursuant to office policy, courtroom clerks can determine case resolution if at the conclusion of a proceeding all issues in a case have been adjudicated. Since docketing clerks deal with maintaining the legal record, they can determine both case resolution and case completion. It is important that docketing clerks be advised of the adjudication of issues for which there is no documentation (e.g., oral dismissal).

Mistrials - Do not record a resolution if a mistrial occurs in a case. Count the resolution when the case has been retried and/or a judgment is rendered. If the case is not retried it can be resolved and completed through the clerk's dismissal process.

To document the occurrence of a mistrial or hung jury for the legal record, use the docket code "MSTRIAL" or "HUNGJRY."

RESOLUTION CATEGORIES IN ASCENDING ORDER BY JUDICIAL TIME REQUIRED

7.A. CHANGE OF VENUE/JURISDICTION (CHV)

Final resolution for an unadjudicated case transferred from the court of filing to another jurisdiction for all subsequent adjudication and/or proceedings, upon motion of a party or upon the court's own initiative.

7.B. DISMISSAL (DSM)

Final resolution by the court dismissing the case before, during, or after the first commitment hearing has commenced.

7.C. UNCONTESTED RESOLUTION (UNDS)

Final resolution of a case prior to a signed commitment order. Use for cases where the patient has been discharged prior to the first commitment hearing but no formal order changing venue or dismissing the case has been entered.

7.D. CLOSED BY COURT (CLCO)

Final resolution of a case that is closed by court order, where no commitment order has been signed, and no other resolution code applies.

7.E. COURT DECISION TO COMMIT (CDTC)

Final resolution of a case by court decision for involuntary commitment of a person for treatment and evaluation. Use for cases where a court ordered commitment has been decided at the conclusion of the first commitment hearing, or the case has been transferred into the county with an existing commitment order.

*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. "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.