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King County Washington home

Investigation calendar – Prosecuting Attorney's Office

Learn more about the hearings that occur after a person is arrested by police based on a law enforcement determination that they have probable cause to arrest the person for a felony, see what persons are currently scheduled for hearings, and the outcomes of recent hearings.

First and second appearance dashboard

This data is provided by the PAO to assist in coordinating and processing of these calendars (sometimes referred to as the "Investigation Calendar"), to allow interested parties (such as victims, relatives, law enforcement, etc.) to know the status of persons arrested, and to provide transparency into this process. These hearings are scheduled and the data is entered on a very short timeline. We make every effort to ensure accuracy, but because of the human element in data entry and time constraints, you should use this as a starting point and verify details with official court and jail records, as there can be no guarantee of absolute accuracy.

Keep in mind that all persons are presumed innocent until proven guilty.


About the investigation calendar dashboard and process

When a person is arrested and booked into jail based on a law enforcement belief that there is probable cause to believe that the person committed a crime, a court must, within 48 hours of the arrest, find that probable cause exists; otherwise, the person must be released. That hearing is called "first appearance" because it is the first hearing to occur following the arrest. Those hearings occur at the King County Correctional Facility or the Maleng Regional Justice Center. At the hearing, the judge will determine if probable cause is present.

  • If probable cause is found, conditions of release will be addressed including bail/bond, and a second appearance will be set.
    • Both the PAO and the arrested person's defense attorney have an opportunity to make recommendations to the court as to what conditions of release should be put in place. The court makes the final decision about what the conditions of release will be.
    • This report displays what bail/bond amount the PAO requested and what the court ordered.
    • This report does not display what bail amount, or conditions, that defense attorneys request. Typically, the defense attorney argues for the arrested person to be released or that bail be set in an amount that they believe the arrested person can post (resulting in the person's release), in line with court rule 3.2. This is not always the case, and you should consult the recoding of the court proceedings if you want to know what the defense attorney requested.
  • If probable cause is not found, the arrested party will be released in accordance with the law.

The PAO handles all first appearance hearings resulting from all adult felony arrests but only some adult misdemeanor* arrests - specifically in unincorporated King County and on state roads. This dashboard currently only displays adult felony arrests.

*Misdemeanor cases - such as drug possession- are separate, and in incorporated cities those are handled by city attorney offices such as the Seattle city Attorney.

This is a preliminary hearing. What charges, if any, will ultimately be filed is never determined at first appearance. Charges may be determined at second appearance if probable cause is found to exist at the first appearance hearing. Depending on crime type, a no contact order may be one of the conditions ordered at first appearance. First appearance hearings are open to the public, so victims and family of the person arrested are welcome to attend.

Charges may be filed after a case is formally referred to the PAO for review by law enforcement. After referral, the PAO conducts an independent review of the case to determine whether the filing of charges would meet our Filing and Disposition Standards (generally, whether the charge could be proved beyond a reasonable doubt at trial).

A second appearance hearing is often a formality with no appearance by the person arrested or formal discussion in court. It is often just informing the arrested person's attorney whether charges were filed. Because second appearance is an administrative hearing, no input can be provided at this stage.