(a) Adoption. Each court by action of a majority of the judges may from time to time make and amend local rules governing its practice not inconsistent with these rules. Local rules shall be numbered and indexed in a manner consistent with the numbering and index system for the Civil Rules.
Rule 83.Local rules of court
Group 11: General Provisions · Last amended October 19, 1999 · Last verified July 13, 2026
In one sentenceRule 83 lets each Washington superior court adopt and amend its own local rules by majority vote of its judges, so long as those local rules do not conflict with the statewide Civil Rules, use consistent numbering, and are filed with the state Administrator for the Courts before taking effect.
Full Text of Rule 83
(b) Filing with the administrator for the courts. Local rules and amendments become effective only after they are filed with the state Administrator for the Courts in accordance with GR 7.
Amendment History
Adopted May 5, 1967, effective July 1, 1967; amended, adopted Nov. 26, 1975, effective Jan. 1, 1976; amended, adopted Nov. 3, 1980, effective Jan. 1, 1981; amended, effective Oct. 19, 1999.
Plain-English Summary
Subsection (a) lets a majority of a superior court's judges make and amend local rules governing that court's practice, provided the local rules are not inconsistent with the Civil Rules. It also requires local rules to be numbered and indexed consistent with the Civil Rules' own numbering and index system, so a local rule addressing, for example, motion practice carries a number tying it back to the corresponding statewide rule.
Subsection (b) adds a filing requirement: local rules and amendments become effective only after they are filed with the state Administrator for the Courts under GR 7. Until that filing happens, a local rule adopted by a court's judges has no operative effect.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can an individual Washington superior court create its own procedural rules?
Yes. Rule 83(a) lets a majority of a court's judges make and amend local rules, provided those rules are not inconsistent with the statewide Civil Rules.
Do local rules need to follow a particular numbering system?
Yes. Rule 83(a) requires local rules to be numbered and indexed consistent with the numbering and index system used for the Civil Rules.
When does a local rule take effect?
Only after it is filed with the state Administrator for the Courts in accordance with GR 7, as Rule 83(b) requires.
Can a local rule override a statewide Civil Rule?
No. Rule 83(a) permits local rules only to the extent they are not inconsistent with the Civil Rules.
Source & verification. Rule text and amendment history are
reproduced verbatim from the Washington Superior Court Civil Rules, adopted by the
Supreme Court of Washington. Last verified July 13, 2026. ·
Official source
Also known as: washington local court rulessuperior court local rule adoptionGR 7 filing local rulesCR 83county court rule numbering washington