Law Library

About us

By statute, the Law Library provides a professional legal collection for judges, prosecutors and other lawyers, and county and state officials. This collection is open to the public anytime the library is open.

The library is very self-service; staff can assist in finding material but cannot give legal advice or interpretations. On average, 80 percent of reference questions asked in this library are posed by members of the general public.

The library is used by students, pro se litigants (people acting as their own lawyers), other area libraries, businesses and even an occasional genealogist. Neighboring public and academic libraries complement rather than duplicate the collection. The library also serves as a back-up for the county Jail library.

The library has a collection of materials including Washington case reports, The Washington Lawyers Practice Manual, Jury Verdicts Northwest, Northwest Justice, Washington State RCW and WAC, and the US Code Annotated. There are also a variety of other reporters and practice aids. The Library has Westlaw and Shepards online, but these must be used at the library.