EVERETT — Online court systems across Washington, including in Snohomish County, were offline this week due to what officials called “unauthorized activity.”
In response to the cyberattack, the state Administrative Office of the Courts shut down the Odyssey portal most Washington counties use to access court documents and case information. In a Tuesday statement, Snohomish County Clerk Heidi Percy estimated Odyssey and other systems “will be offline, minimally, for the remainder of the week.”
No further details about the cyberattack were provided. Wendy Ferrell, associate director for the state Administrative Office of the Courts, told The Seattle Times that officials “have no reason to believe that was a targeted attack.”
Snohomish County Superior Court Administrator Andrew Somers, who learned of the attack late Sunday, called the outage “very, very disruptive.”
The county clerk’s office is now only accepting in-person case filings until its case management system is back online.
The clerk’s office has received documents submitted between 4:30 p.m. last Thursday and Tuesday, but can’t process them until the online court systems are restored. Those documents can be refiled by paper with the clerk’s office, instead.
Since attorneys and others now have limited access to case info, their proceedings may move slower than usual. Court staff were prioritizing “urgent matters as best as possible,” Percy said.
“Thank you for your patience and understanding as we work through these challenges,” the clerk said in a press release.
Limited access to court records is available through the state’s digital archives.
Somers called the outage unprecedented.
“We’ve never dealt with anything like this for this length of outage,” he said. “We’re kind of making it up as we go along.”
In an email Tuesday, county Prosecutor Jason Cummings said losing access to the Odyssey court portal is “a big deal for all involved with the court system.” But he thanked court staff, his office and public defenders for working to ensure the court system can run as smooth as possible.
He said: “It has been a tremendous team effort in Snohomish County to make sure that we can proceed during this outage.”
Jake Goldstein-Street: 425-339-3439; jake.goldstein-street@heraldnet.com; X: @GoldsteinStreet.
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