Washington Court Rules

Wash. R. App. P. Form 17 (2026)

RAP Form 17. Personal Restraint Petition for Person Confined by State or Local Government

✓ current as of July 2026

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See RAP 18.17 for document formatting requirements.

RAP FORM 17. Personal Restraint Petition for Person Confined by State or Local Government

[Rule 16.7]

No. [appellate court]

[Put name of appellate court that you want to hear your case.] OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON

[Put your name here.], ) ) PERSONAL RESTRAINT ) PETITION Petitioner. )

If there is not enough room on this form, use the back of

these pages or use other paper. Fill out all of this form and other

papers you are attaching before you sign this form in front of a

notary.

A. STATUS OF PETITIONER

I, __________________________________________________, (full name, personal pronouns (optional), and address)

apply for relief from confinement. I am [ ] am not [ ] now in

custody serving a sentence upon conviction of a crime. (If not

serving a sentence upon conviction of a crime) I am now in

custody because of the following type of court order:

__________________________________________________.

(identify type of order)

1. My anticipated release date is _____________________.

2. The court in which I was sentenced is _______________.

3. I was convicted of the crime(s) of

_____________________________________________.

4. I was sentenced after trial [ ], after plea of guilty [ ] on

_____________________________________________.

(date of sentence) The judge who imposed sentence was

______________________________________________.

(name of trial court judge)

5. My lawyer at trial court was

______________________________________________

(name and address if known; if none, write "none")

__________________________________________________.

6. I did [ ] did not [ ] appeal from the decision of the

trial court. If the answer is that I did, I appealed to

_____________________________________________.

(name of court or courts to which appeal was taken)

My lawyer on appeal was

__________________________________________________.

(name and address if known; if none, write "none")

The decision of the appellate court was [ ] was not [ ]

published. If the answer is that it was published, and I have this

information, the decision is published in

___________________________________________________

(volume number, Washington Appellate Reports or

__________________________________________________.

Washington Reports, and page number)

7. Since my conviction I have [ ] have not [ ] asked a

court for some relief from my sentence other than I have

already written above. If the answer is that I have asked, the

court I asked was ____________________________________

__________________________________________________.

(name of court or courts in which relief was sought)

Relief was denied on

________________________________________________.

(date of decision or, if more than one, dates of all decisions)

8. If I have answered in question 7 that I did ask for relief,

the name of my lawyer in the proceeding mentioned in my

answer to question 7 was

__________________________________________________.

(name and address if known; if none, write "none")

9. If the answers to the above questions do not really tell

about the proceedings and the courts, judges and attorneys

involved in your case, tell about it here:

___________________________________________________

__________________________________________________.

B. GROUNDS FOR RELIEF

(If I claim more than one reason for relief from

confinement, I attach sheets for each reason separately, in the

same way as the first one. The attached sheets should be

numbered "First Ground", "Second Ground", "Third Ground",

etc.). I claim that I have ______ (number) reason(s) for this

court to grant me relief from the conviction and sentence

described in Part A.

_____________________ Ground

(First, Second, etc.)

1. I should be given a new trial or released from

confinement because (Here state legal reasons why you think

there was some error made in your case which gives you the

right to a new trial or release from confinement.):

___________________________________________________

2. The following facts are important when considering my

case (After each fact statement, put the name of the person or

persons who know the fact and will support your statement of

the fact. If the fact is already in the record of your case, indicate

that, also.):

___________________________________________________

__________________________________________________.

3. The following reported court decisions (include

citations if possible) in cases similar to mine show the error I

believe happened in my case (If none are known, state "None

known".): __________________________________________

___________________________________________________

__________________________________________________.

4. The following statutes and constitutional provisions

should be considered by the court (If none are known, state

"None known".):

___________________________________________________

__________________________________________________.

5. This petition is the best way I know to get the relief I

want, and no other way will work as well because

___________________________________________________

__________________________________________________.

C. STATEMENT OF FINANCES

If you cannot afford to pay the filing fee or cannot afford

to pay an attorney to help you, fill this out. If you have enough

money for these things, do not fill out this part of the form.

1. I do ___ do not ___ ask the court to file this without

making me pay the filing fee because I am so poor I cannot pay

the fee.

2. I have a spendable balance of $______ in my prison or

institution account.

3. I do ___ do not ___ ask the court to appoint a lawyer

for me because I am so poor I cannot afford to pay a lawyer.

4. I am ___ am not ___ employed. My salary or wages

amount to $______ a month. My employer is

___________________________________________________

__________________________________________________.

(name and address)

5. During the past 12 months I did ___ did not ___ get any

money from a business, profession or other form of

self-employment. (If I did, it was ________________________

and the total income I got was $_________________.)

(kind of self-employment)

6. During the past 12 months, I

did did not get any rent payments. If so, the total

amount I got was $_______________.

___ ___ get any interest. If so, the total amount I

got was $____________________.

___ ___ get any dividends. If so, the total amount I

got was $_____________________.

___ ___ get any other money. If so, the amount of

money I got was $______________.

7. ___ ___ have any cash except as said in answer 2.

If so, the total amount of cash I have

is $__________________________.

___ ___ have any savings accounts or checking

accounts. If so, the amount in all

accounts is $___________________.

___ ___ own stocks, bonds, or notes. If so, their

total value is $_______________.

8. List all real estate and other property or things of value

which belong to you or in which you have an interest. Tell what

each item of property is worth and how much you owe on it. Do

not list household furniture and furnishings and clothing which

you or your family need.

Items Value

___________________________________________________

9. I am ___ am not ___ married. If I am married, my wife

or husband's name and address is

___________________________________________________

__________________________________________________.

10. All of the persons who need me to support them are

listed here.

Name and Address Relationship Age

___________________________________________________

11. All the bills I owe are listed here.

Name of creditor Address Amount

you owe money to

___________________________________________________

D. REQUEST FOR RELIEF

I want this court to:

___ vacate my conviction and give me a new trial

___ vacate my conviction and dismiss the criminal

charges against me without a new trial

___ other (specify)

___________________________________________________

E. OATH OF PETITIONER

THE STATE OF WASHINGTON ) ) ss. County of _________________ )

After being first duly sworn, on oath, I depose and say:

That I am the petitioner, that I have read the petition, know its

contents, and I believe the petition is true.

___________________________________________________

[sign here]

SUBSCRIBED AND SWORN to before me this ___ day

of_________________________________________________.

Notary Public in and for the State of Washington, residing at:

___________________________________________________

If a notary is not available, explain why none is available

and indicate who can be contacted to help you find a notary:

__________________________________________________

Then sign below:

I declare that I have examined this petition and to the best

of my knowledge and belief it is true and correct.

[If the petition is prepared using word processing

software, include the following statement: This document

contains words, excluding the parts of the document

exempted from the word count by RAP 18.17.]

_____________________________________________ [date].

___________________________________________________

[sign here]

[Adopted effective July 1, 1976; Amended effective September 1, 1990; September 1, 2006; November 21, 2006; September 1, 2021; June 27, 2023; October 1, 2024.]

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Wash. R. App. P. Form 17 (2026)

RAP Form 17. Personal Restraint Petition for Person Confined by State or Local Government