Goldendale is the Klickitat County seat, and the courthouse at 205 S. Columbus Avenue is home to Klickitat County Superior Court (felonies and juvenile cases) and the East Klickitat District Court. The West Klickitat District Court sits 70 miles away in White Salmon and hears misdemeanors from the western, Gorge end of the county. Neither Goldendale, White Salmon nor Bingen runs a separate municipal court; their city cases go to the District Court for their end of the county. The Klickitat County Prosecuting Attorney files felonies and county misdemeanors, and adults arrested in the county are typically booked into the Klickitat County Jail in the Goldendale courthouse complex, where a judge decides release or bail.

• Klickitat County Superior Court, 205 S. Columbus Ave., Room 206, Goldendale, WA 98620, (509) 773-5755
• Klickitat County Clerk, 205 S. Columbus Ave., Room 204, Goldendale, WA 98620, (509) 773-5744
• District Court, East Klickitat, 205 S. Columbus Ave., Room 107, Goldendale, WA 98620, (509) 773-4670
• District Court, West Klickitat, 501 NE Washington St., White Salmon, WA 98672, (509) 493-1190
• District Court Probation Services, 205 S. Columbus Ave., Room 110, Goldendale, WA 98620, (509) 773-3776
• Klickitat County Prosecuting Attorney, 205 S. Columbus Ave., Room 106, Goldendale, WA 98620, (509) 773-5838
• Klickitat County Sheriff's Office, 205 S. Columbus Ave., Room 108, Goldendale, WA 98620, (509) 773-4455; 24-hour dispatch (509) 773-4545
• Klickitat County Jail, 205 S. Columbus Ave., Goldendale, WA 98620, through the Sheriff's Office at (509) 773-4455
• Public defense: contract and court-appointed attorneys; ask Superior Court at (509) 773-5755 or the District Court handling your case
• Klickitat County Juvenile Department, 131 W. Court St., Goldendale, WA 98620, (509) 773-3355

Which court hears your case. Geography matters here more than in most counties. Misdemeanors, gross misdemeanors and infractions from Goldendale and the east county (Centerville, Roosevelt, Bickleton, Wishram) are heard at East District Court in Goldendale. The same offenses from White Salmon, Bingen, Lyle, Husum, Trout Lake and the rest of the west end go to West District Court in White Salmon. Every felony is filed in Superior Court in Goldendale. Youth under 18 are referred to the Juvenile Department unless the charge must start in adult court.

Where pretrial inmates are held. The Klickitat County Jail, operated by the Sheriff's Office in Goldendale, is the county's only adult jail; there are no city jails. It is a jail of roughly 90-plus beds holding people awaiting trial and serving local sentences. The west end is far from Goldendale, and since 2012 the cities of White Salmon and Bingen have contracted to house many of their misdemeanor arrestees at the Skamania County Jail in Stevenson instead, while felony suspects from those cities still go to Goldendale; confirm current arrangements with the Sheriff. Detained youth are sent out of county, most often to the Benton-Franklin Juvenile Justice Center in Kennewick.

Klickitat stretches nearly 100 miles along the Columbia, from the Gorge's wet west end to dry wheat and wind-farm country in the east. To save people long drives, the county runs two District Court locations, each with its own judge. The three incorporated cities, Goldendale, White Salmon and Bingen, rely on those District Court sites instead of operating municipal courts.

Courts

• Superior Court, 205 S. Columbus Ave., Room 206, Goldendale, WA 98620, (509) 773-5755. One judge and a court commissioner hear felonies, juvenile cases and District Court appeals.
• East Klickitat District Court, 205 S. Columbus Ave., Room 107, Goldendale, WA 98620, (509) 773-4670. Also hears Goldendale city cases.
• West Klickitat District Court, 501 NE Washington St., White Salmon, WA 98672 (mail: P.O. Box 435), (509) 493-1190. Also hears White Salmon and Bingen city cases.

Prosecution, defense, police and juvenile intake

• Prosecuting Attorney, (509) 773-5838. Prosecutes all felonies plus misdemeanors charged by the county.
• Public defense: the county has contracted with a small firm or pair of private attorneys for Superior Court cases, with conflict attorneys and District Court lawyers appointed from court lists.
• Sheriff's Office, (509) 773-4455; dispatch (509) 773-4545
• City police in Goldendale and the joint Bingen-White Salmon department handle in-town arrests; Washington State Patrol works SR 14 and U.S. 97.
• Juvenile Department, 131 W. Court St., Goldendale, (509) 773-3355

In-custody defendants at the Klickitat County Jail appear in Goldendale courtrooms in person or by video; West District Court may arrange video appearances for people held there.

Most Klickitat misdemeanor cases start with a citation and a court date at either the Goldendale or White Salmon District Court. A DUI, a DV assault or a warrant arrest usually means a booking, typically at the Klickitat County Jail or, for some west-end city misdemeanor arrests, the Skamania County Jail. A preset bail can sometimes be posted at the jail; otherwise the person waits for the next District Court calendar.

District Court sequence

1. Preliminary appearance by the next court day for those held: probable cause, release conditions, and any no-contact order.
2. Arraignment, where the defendant pleads and the judge appoints counsel from the court's list for those who qualify.
3. Pretrial hearings: negotiation toward a reduced charge, stipulated order of continuance, or deferred prosecution for qualifying treatment cases.
4. Trial to six jurors or to the judge.

Penalties

In either Klickitat District Court, a misdemeanor conviction can bring up to 90 days in jail and a $1,000 fine, and a gross misdemeanor up to 364 days and $5,000. Knowing drug possession now falls in the gross misdemeanor category, with treatment and diversion encouraged by state law. A DUI conviction carries mandatory minimum jail or monitoring, license penalties and an ignition interlock. District Court Probation in Goldendale supervises many people placed on probation.

Ask the judge for appointed counsel at arraignment. Each District Court site keeps its own list of appointed attorneys; the clerk can explain how to apply.

A felony arrest anywhere in the county leads to the Klickitat County Jail in Goldendale and a Superior Court preliminary appearance, typically the next court day. The judge or commissioner reviews probable cause, then decides between personal recognizance, supervised conditions and a bail amount, which can be paid in cash or through a licensed bail bond agent.

Path through Superior Court

• Charges filed: the Prosecuting Attorney files an Information in Goldendale.
• Arraignment within three days of filing for those held in custody, or 14 days from the next appearance for those released; the contract public defender is appointed for eligible defendants.
• Omnibus: evidence exchange, motions and plea negotiation.
• Trial: 12 jurors from Klickitat County. Trial is due within 60 days of arraignment for those jailed and 90 days for those released, with continuances common.

Sentencing in Klickitat County

Felony sentences are calculated from the state grid, which combines the offense's seriousness with the person's criminal history. A Klickitat judge can impose up to 5 years on a Class C felony, 10 on a Class B and life on a Class A. Confinement of a year or less is served locally; longer terms are served with the Department of Corrections, usually with community custody afterward. Sentencing alternatives include DOSA for drug-related offenders, the First-Time Offender Waiver and the Parenting Sentencing Alternative.

The county's Superior Court contract defenders represent eligible felony defendants; the clerk's office at (509) 773-5744 can confirm the appointment.

Violent charges are rarer than property crime in Klickitat County, but when filed they bring the strictest release decisions. Expect the prosecutor to request high bail and protective orders, and expect many defendants to remain at the Klickitat County Jail through trial.

• Ranges for serious violent crimes are long, and multiple such counts are served consecutively.
• Firearm or deadly weapon enhancements add mandatory time with no good-time reduction.
• Third-strike most-serious offenses require life without release.
• Washington no longer has capital punishment; aggravated first-degree murder by an adult carries life without parole.
• Victims are kept informed and may speak at sentencing with help from the Prosecutor's office.

For serious violent cases the court can appoint an experienced conflict or contract attorney. Families may also hire private Washington defense counsel.

The Klickitat County Juvenile Department in Goldendale handles intake, diversion and probation, and youth cases are heard by the Superior Court. The county has no detention center of its own. State court lists show Klickitat youth being held at the Benton-Franklin Juvenile Justice Center in Kennewick or at the Yakima County Juvenile Justice Center; the Juvenile Department can tell families which one is being used.

• Arrest and intake: many youth are released to a parent with a referral. Those who must be held are driven to the contract facility, often two hours away.
• Detention hearing: a judge reviews any detention within 72 hours, not counting weekends and holidays, frequently by video. Release depends on conditions, not bail.
• Diversion: first-time, lower-level offenses usually go to a diversion agreement.
• Disposition: local sanctions or DCYF Juvenile Rehabilitation commitment to Green Hill School, Echo Glen Children's Center or a community facility.
• Adult court: 16- and 17-year-olds accused of specified serious violent crimes are charged as adults automatically; any other youth reaches adult court only if a Goldendale judge grants a decline motion.

Youth have a right to a lawyer, appointed through the court at county expense when the family qualifies. Juvenile Department: (509) 773-3355.

Unlike Skamania County next door, Klickitat sits inside Washington's Eastern federal district. Federal criminal cases from the county are generally handled at the William O. Douglas U.S. Courthouse, 25 S. 3rd St., Yakima, (509) 573-6600, though proceedings can also occur in Spokane or Richland.

When federal jurisdiction applies

• Yakama Nation land: the southern portion of the Yakama Reservation, including the Glenwood area and land near Mount Adams, extends into northern Klickitat County. After Washington's 2016 partial retrocession, serious crimes involving tribal members there are often prosecuted federally under the Major Crimes Act, alongside Yakama tribal court; jurisdiction depends on who is involved and where.
• Columbia River treaty fishing access sites and federal property in the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area and the Mount Adams Ranger District of Gifford Pinchot National Forest.
• Drug trafficking along U.S. 97 and SR 14, firearms offenses, fraud and child exploitation.

Federal offices

• U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Washington, Yakima branch, 402 E. Yakima Ave., Suite 210, Yakima, WA 98901, (509) 454-4425
• Federal Defenders of Eastern Washington and Idaho, Yakima office, 306 E. Chestnut Ave., Yakima, WA 98901, (509) 248-8920; CJA panel attorneys take conflicts.

Federal procedure

A magistrate judge conducts the initial appearance and, when requested, a detention hearing under the federal Bail Reform Act; commercial bonds are not used. Indictment comes within 30 days of arrest, and the Speedy Trial Act requires trial within 70 days unless time is excluded. The U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and mandatory minimums drive sentences, parole does not exist, and about 85 percent of the term is served in the Bureau of Prisons before supervised release. Eastern District appeals go to the Ninth Circuit in San Francisco.

The U.S. Marshals in eastern Washington house pretrial detainees in county jails under contract, so a Klickitat federal defendant may be held in Yakima, Spokane or elsewhere and could briefly appear on the Klickitat County Jail roster. Sentenced federal prisoners from Goldendale or White Salmon can be found through the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator. Klickitat's contract defenders do not handle federal cases.

This Klickitat County guide is general information, not legal advice, and jail contracts, defense contracts and court schedules change. A Washington-licensed criminal defense lawyer can review the facts of any Klickitat charge. For appointed counsel, ask Superior Court at (509) 773-5755, East District Court at (509) 773-4670 or West District Court at (509) 493-1190; for custody questions, call the Klickitat County Sheriff's Office at (509) 773-4455.