AUBURN, Wash. — The City of Auburn filed legal action Tuesday asking a court to resolve a narrow dispute with King County District Court over who will handle pending Auburn cases when the Auburn Municipal Court begins operations next year.

The disagreement applies only to cases filed with King County District Court before January 1, 2027. Auburn will begin accepting all new City cases when its municipal court opens on that date.

When Auburn began planning the transition last year after the City Council voted in May 2025 to end its contract with King+ County District Court, the City understood that cases already filed with King County District Court would remain there until they were resolved. District Court confirmed that understanding in writing that same month, and that approach is consistent with previous transitions involving the cities of Woodinville in 2016 and Duvall in 2022.

King County District Court later informed Auburn on April 30, 2026, that it instead intends to transfer all open Auburn cases to the new municipal court on its first day of operation, January 1, rather than seeing those cases through adjudication until closure.

If allowed to happen, the City anticipates tens of thousands of cases would be transferred, requiring Auburn’s new court to absorb the entire pending caseload at the same time it begins processing every new case – a little over 130,000 cases. The additional workload would place significant, unplanned demands on the new court and make an organized launch more difficult.

“Auburn is prepared to begin handling every new case filed once our municipal court opens,” said Mayor Nancy Backus. “This suit is about making sure the court opens in a thoughtful and manageable way, rather than absorbing an existing caseload all at once. Further, Auburn has already paid for full adjudication of cases filed with District Court. We hoped to resolve this directly and remain open to doing so, but we also need clarity as January is quickly approaching, and we want to be good stewards of public tax dollars by not paying twice for the same work.”

Even after filing, Auburn has continued to pursue the dispute-resolution process established in its agreement with King County. The issue was originally scheduled for discussion on September 3, but King County postponed that discussion until September 29. Had the parties been able to address the issue as originally scheduled, court action may not have been necessary. With the January 1 transition quickly approaching, however, the City could not wait another month to begin resolving an issue that will significantly affect court operations. Auburn therefore determined it was necessary to pursue legal action while continuing with the dispute-resolution process. 

The City of Auburn believes it is in the best interest of all parties to continue the dispute-resolution process in tandem with legal action. If the parties reach an agreed resolution, further court action may not be necessary.

The issue also has implications beyond Auburn. The City believes transferring an entire pending caseload without an agreed-upon transition could create uncertainty for other cities that contract with King County District Court that may choose to establish municipal courts in the future.

Auburn remains open to reaching a practical resolution while continuing its preparations for the January 1, 2027 opening.

Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief (PDF)