Columbia County Arrest Records

Columbia County booking reports come from the Columbia County Sheriff's Office in Dayton. The county jail closed in April 2023 after 136 years of operation. Inmates are now held at the Walla Walla County Jail under a transport agreement. The sheriff's office still books and processes arrests in the county and still keeps the records side. You can request a booking report by writing to the office or by going through the local court records desk. Both options are open to anyone, with no fee just to ask.

Columbia County Sheriff's Office

The Columbia County Sheriff's Office is the primary law enforcement agency for unincorporated Columbia County. The office provides patrol, investigations, and records work. Until 2023, the office also ran the county jail in Dayton. The jail closed in April 2023 after 136 years of operation. The county now contracts with Walla Walla County for jail services. Arrests made by Columbia County deputies are booked locally and then transported to the Walla Walla County Jail for the hold.

The sheriff's office still keeps the records side of every arrest. The booking file starts at the Columbia County office and follows the inmate to Walla Walla. Public records requests for the booking part of the file go to the Columbia County office. Visit the Columbia County Sheriff page for the main contact list. The page has the address, phone numbers, and hours.

The sheriff page is the main hub for booking record questions in Columbia County.

A second portal at columbiaco.com/78/Sheriff also lists the office services and forms.

How to Request Columbia County Booking Reports

Records requests in Columbia County are processed through the Columbia County District Court for many items. The court charges $0.50 per page for court records. For the booking part of the file, you write to the sheriff's office. Include the full name of the person, the date of the arrest if you know it, and any case number. The office must respond within five business days under RCW 42.56, the Washington Public Records Act. The first response may be the records, an estimate, or a clarification request.

Because the county jail is closed, the actual hold record is held at the Walla Walla County Jail. For data on a current inmate, the Walla Walla County Corrections Department is the right place to start. The two counties share data through the transport contract, but the lead office for Columbia County arrests is still the Columbia County Sheriff's Office. The sheriff's records officer can help route a request to the right place.

Note: Court records and jail records are kept by different offices, so a full search may need both a court records request and a sheriff's records request.

Walla Walla County Jail for Columbia County Inmates

The Walla Walla County Jail now holds Columbia County inmates. The Walla Walla County Corrections Department keeps a current inmate roster and a public records request portal. For a current Columbia County inmate, you can call the Walla Walla County Corrections Department or use its records tool. The booking file for a Columbia County arrest will be tagged with the Columbia County Sheriff's Office as the arresting agency.

The closure of the local jail in 2023 was tied to cost and staffing. The interlocal agreement with Walla Walla County moved the daily hold work to a larger facility while keeping the arrest and records work in Columbia County. That split is common in small rural counties in Washington. The state allows a county to contract for jail beds with another county under RCW 70.48, the City and County Jails Act.

What Booking Reports Show

A booking report covers the basic facts of an arrest and the start of jail custody. The report lists the inmate's name, the booking date, the charge text, the bond, the next court date, and the arresting agency. Per RCW 70.48.100, those items are open to the public. The rest of the booking file is not. Medical records, mental health screens, and victim contact data fall under the privacy rules in RCW 10.97.

Confidential records may be released only to the inmate, to a person with the inmate's written permission, or by a court order signed by a judge. The sheriff's records team will redact those items before sending out a copy of any booking report. Booking photos are also exempt from public release in most cases.

Court Records Tied to Columbia County Bookings

Each charge listed on a Columbia County booking report has a matching court file. Felony cases go to Columbia County Superior Court in Dayton. Misdemeanor cases go to Columbia County District Court. The Washington Courts case search at courts.wa.gov covers Superior Court files for the county. The page shows the docket, the case status, and the next hearing date.

For state-level criminal history checks, the Washington State Patrol runs the WATCH system at watch.wsp.wa.gov. WATCH is a fee-based name search of conviction data from courts across the state. For people in state prison, use the Washington DOC Offender Search. The DOC tool covers people held by the state Department of Corrections, not local jails. Together, those tools fill in the gaps that a small county records office cannot cover on its own.

Local Resources

Columbia County is a small rural county in southeast Washington. Dayton is the county seat. The county has only a few thousand residents and a small set of law enforcement agencies. Most of the bookings come from the sheriff's office and the Dayton Police Department. The closure of the local jail in 2023 changed the day-to-day flow of inmates but did not change the records rules. The Columbia County Sheriff's Office is still the lead source for any booking report tied to a Columbia County arrest.

Where Columbia County Inmates Are Housed

The Columbia County Jail closed in April 2023 after 136 years of work. Since then, all Columbia County inmates have been housed at the Walla Walla County Jail. So a Columbia County booking report from a recent date will list a Walla Walla housing facility. The arrest may have been made by a Columbia County deputy or a Dayton city officer, but the booking happens up the road. Anyone tracking a Columbia County inmate should check the Walla Walla jail roster for current custody status.

The Columbia County Sheriff's Office is still the primary law enforcement agency for unincorporated Columbia County. Patrol, investigations, and records all run out of the Dayton office. The full Sheriff page is at columbiacountywa.gov. Records requests for older Columbia County booking reports go through the Sheriff's Office. Court records requests run through Columbia County District Court at $0.50 per page.

Note: With the local jail now closed, current Columbia County booking reports must be cross-checked with the Walla Walla County jail roster.

Records Law That Applies

Even with the jail closed, the same state laws still set the rules for Columbia County booking reports. The jail register fields are public under RCW 70.48.100. That covers name, hour and date of confinement, the cause, and the time of release. The Public Records Act in RCW 42.56 gives the county five business days to respond to a written request. Sealed items like medical and mental health intake notes fall under RCW 10.97.

For state-level data, the WATCH name-based check at watch.wsp.wa.gov covers conviction history. The DOC Offender Search covers state prison custody. Each Columbia County charge has a matching court file. Felony cases go to Columbia County Superior Court in Dayton. Misdemeanor cases go to the District Court. The court docket is the best way to check the outcome of any case shown on a booking report.