Court Rules
Public comment invited on proposed revisions to Local Court Rules
The Thurston County Superior Court is inviting public comments on proposed revisions to its Local Court Rules, to be effective September 1, 2026. You may view or download the proposed revisions at the following link: Proposed Revisions to TCSC Local Court Rules for comment (corrected) 5.19.2026
Proposed revisions include:
- Multiple edits to the Local Special Proceedings Rules (LSPRs) and LJuCR4 to reflect the elimination of settlement conferences in family law cases. Most of these were included in an emergency rule effective February 2, 2026.
- Proposed language regarding warrants in LCrR 3.2. Public Defense’s proposal and the PAO’s comment are posted below.
Your comments will help the Court evaluate whether to adopt the proposed amendments. All comments must be received by no later than 1:00 p.m. on Thursday, June 18, 2026.* Comments received after this date and time may not be considered. You may submit comments by email to thurstonsuperior@co.thurston.wa.us or by mail to Thurston County Superior Court, Building 2; 2000 Lakeridge Drive SW; Olympia, WA 98502.All comments timely received by the Court will be posted on this webpage.
*The Court corrected the copy of the proposed revisions on 5/19/2026 and reset the due date to 6/18/2026.
Comments:
- LCrR 3.2(k)(1) - Original Proposal on Notice of Warrants (Thurston County Public Defense)
- LCrR 3.2(k)(1) - Comment on Notice of Warrants Proposal (Thurston County Prosecuting Attorney's Office)
Thurston County Superior Court Local Court Rules
Emergency Rules -- Settlement Conferences at FJC
Due to increasing caseloads and budget reductions, Thurston County Family & Juvenile Court will no longer conduct settlement conferences. All settlement conferences scheduled in or after February 2026 have been cancelled. To support these operational changes, the court has adopted emergency rules amending the following local court rules, effective February 2, 2026:
- LCR 87 – Alternative Dispute Resolution
- LSPR 94.03D – Alternative Dispute Resolution and Pretrial Conferences
- LSPR 94.03E – Trials
- LSPR 94.12 – Collaborative Law Process
- LJuCR 4 – Pretrial Conferences for Dependency and Termination Cases
Clean and redline versions of the amended rules may be downloaded here:
The Court expects these emergency rules to be readopted every 90 days per GR 7(f) and become permanent with the next annual update of its local court rules.
Local General Rules (LGR)
LGR 7 Local Rules-Filing and Effective Date
LGR 15 Destruction, Sealing, and Redaction of Court Records
LGR 28 Jury Service Postponement, Excusal, and Disqualification
LGR 29 Presiding Judge in Superior Court District and Limited Jurisdiction Court District
LGR 30 Electronic Filing and Service
LGR 33 Requests for Accommodation Under the ADA
LGR 34 Waiver of Court and Clerk's Fees and Charges in Civil Matters on the Basis of Indigency
Local Admission to Practice Rules (LAPR)
Local Civil Rules for Superior Court (LCR)
LCR 5 Service and Filing of Pleadings and Other Papers
LCR 7 Pleadings Allowed; Form of Motions
LCR 10 Form of Pleadings and Other Papers
LCR 11 Signing and Drafting of Pleadings, Motions, and Legal Memoranda; Sanctions
LCR 12 Defenses and Objections
LCR 16 Pretrial Procedure and Motions
LCR 42 Consolidation; Separate Trials
LCR 51 Instructions to Jury and Deliberation
LCR 59 New Trial, Reconsideration, and Amendment of Judgments
LCR 77 Superior Courts and Judicial Officers
Local Civil Arbitration Rules (LCAR)
Local Special Proceedings Rules (LSPR)
LSPR 94.01 Concurrent Jurisdiction Over Family Court
LSPR 94.02 Management of Concurrent Cases
LSPR 94.03D Settlement and Pretrial Conferences
LSPR 94.03F Informal Family Law Trials
LSPR 94.03G Family Court Case Schedules
LSPR 94.04 Finalizing Family Law Actions
LSPR 94.05 Mandatory Mediation for Parenting Plans and Residential Schedules
LSPR 94.07 Appointments of Guardians ad Litem
LSPR 94.08 Judicial Officer Training
LSPR 94.11 Orientation in Family Law Matters
LSPR 94.12 Collaborative Law Process
LSPR 94.13 Parenting Coordination [Rescinded]
LSPR 94.14 Motions for Reconsideration and Revision
LSPR 94.15 Review of Papers Subject to Order Restricting Abusive Litigation
LSPR 98.06 Guardianship of Estate Reports
LSPR 98.16W Estates-Guardianship-Settlement of Claims of Minors and Incapacitated Persons
Local Special Proceedings Rules (LSPRC)
Local Guardian ad Litem Rules (LGALR)
Local Criminal Rules (LCrR)
Local Juvenile Rules (LJuCR)
These documents are provided for research purposes only and are not the current local court rules:
Redlined 2025 Revisions to Thurston County Superior Court Local Court Rules
2024 Thurston County Superior Court Local Court Rules (eff. 9/1/2024-8/31/2025)
2023 Thurston County Superior Court Local Court Rules (eff. 9/1/2023-8/31/2024)
Timely Access to Justice Criminal Case Processing Documents (2024)
Additional Court Rule Resources
Washington State Court: General Rules
Revised Code of Washington (RCW)
Court Forms referenced in Local Court Rules