Everett residents who need to file small claims, pay traffic tickets or reach the district court by phone face weeks of delays and three closures before year's end.

Presiding District Court Judge Beth Fraser signed an administrative order shutting down all four Snohomish County District Court locations on Oct. 23, Nov. 20 and Dec. 18, The Herald first reported.

The closures include the Everett Division at 3000 Rockefeller Ave. More closures could follow, Fraser said.

The shutdowns stem from the Sept. 14 launch of Enterprise Justice, a statewide case management system replacing the decades-old software used by courts of limited jurisdiction across Washington.

Snohomish County is the largest county so far to go live on the platform, according to Fraser.

"The amount of work involved in this case implementation is a tidal wave on top of the already existing work," Fraser told the Snohomish County Council during an Oct. 7 budget presentation.

Staff are learning the new system while processing filings that have grown 20% this year, Assistant Presiding Judge Anthony Howard told the council. Court clerks trained for close to a year before the switch, but the learning curve remains sharp.

Workers are toggling between the old and new systems while documents migrate.

Fraser told county leaders the court stayed open during the COVID-19 pandemic but cannot keep operating at the current pace.

What residents will notice

Time-sensitive matters such as protection orders, warrants and criminal deadlines are still being processed on schedule, Howard said in an email to The Herald.

Civil and administrative paperwork is where the backlog is growing.

Howard said the slower processing behind the counter shows up as longer turnaround on paperwork and longer waits on the phone.

The court has already cut phone hours. Since Sept. 28, phone lines are available only from 9 a.m. to noon and 1 to 3 p.m., Monday through Friday, according to the court's website. Office counters remain open 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on non-closure days. Drop boxes at each division accept payments and hearing requests.

On the three closure Fridays, the Everett, Cascade and Evergreen divisions close from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. The South Division in Lynnwood closes from noon to 4:30 p.m.

Howard called the phone reduction the hardest decision of the transition, saying the court would review it at the start of 2027.

Why the switch

The new Enterprise Justice system replaces JIS/DISCIS, the legacy software that Fraser said had been refined over roughly four decades but could no longer be maintained. The statewide rollout is scheduled to continue through 2027.

Larger counties like King and Pierce run their own systems. Howard said building a standalone system would be a major expense for Snohomish County.

Fraser acknowledged the new software is not yet as capable as the old one. She told county leaders it will take years to reach the level of customization the court needs.

Whether the Snohomish County Council will commit additional budget resources in response to the court's staffing strain is not yet clear. The Oct. 7 presentation was part of the council's 2027–2028 budget deliberations.

Residents can file documents electronically through eFileWA and search court records through re:SearchWA.

The court's automated information line is 425-388-3331.