Washington Order To Seal is an order issued by a Washington court which seals the records of a criminal case from public view. This order is used to ensure the privacy of defendants and to protect them from adverse effects of having their criminal records accessible to the public. It is applicable to all criminal cases in Washington state, regardless of the outcome. There are two types of Washington Order To Seal: Automatic Sealing and Judicial Sealing. Automatic Sealing is when the records are sealed automatically after a specified time period has elapsed since the end of the criminal case. Judicial Sealing is when the court issues an order to seal the records after a hearing in which the defendant or their attorney must present arguments for why the records should be sealed. In either case, the records are sealed from public view and are only available to law enforcement or other authorized individuals with a valid court order.