Mediation services were initiated by the city of Vancouver, Washington in 1992. In 1995 Clark County opened the Dispute Resolution Center serving all of Clark County. In 1997 the two programs merged and Community Mediation Services (CMS) was born.

In 2010, the recession forced budget cuts and the city of Vancouver made the difficult decision to cut the program. However, due to the determination of local volunteers, CMS was restructured as a non-profit and has grown into a thriving dispute resolution center serving residents, organizations, schools, and businesses county-wide.