DUI Laws in Seattle and King County

The Seattle City Attorney's office assigns only highly trained and veteran attorneys to the prosecution of DUIs. And typically all negotiations go through that person. The Seattle Municipal Court does not have a specific judge to assigned to hear only DUIs like Tacoma Municipal Court. The King County Prosecutor's Office has District Court supervisors assigned to negotiate DUI cases. These prosecutors supervise the Misdemeanor Unit and are very tough negotiators. Because the King County District Court is split into geographic divisions, there is no set group of judges that hear only the DUI cases. For the various Municipal Courts in King County (Bellevue, Issaquah, Kent, Des Moines, and Federal Way to name some of them), the prosecution is generally handled by the City Attorney's office (or the contracted attorney paid to handle these cases by the City Attorney who does not want to handle them). Each court has its own Judge or Judges depending on its size. An attorney with the experience of working in multiple courts like those at the Law Offices of Smith and White will be able to explain how each court works.

It is important for all potential clients to know that time is of the essence in DUI cases. Evidence can be lost in hours and/or days. It is very important to contact an attorney as soon as possible to discuss your case to make sure all your options are covered.

Contact Our Tacoma or Seattle Offices

For an initial consultation with our Tacoma DUI defense lawyers, call Derek Smith at 253-666-8590 or James White at 800-895-7932.