SB 5332 - DIGEST
(DIGEST AS ENACTED)

Requires a statewide automated victim information and notification system to be added to the city and county jail booking and reporting system. The system shall: (1) Automatically notify a registered victim via the victim's choice of telephone, letter, or e-mail when any of the following events affect an offender housed in any Washington state city or county jail or department of corrections facility: (a) is transferred or assigned to another facility; (b) is transferred to the custody of another agency outside the state; (c) is given a different security classification; (d) is released on temporary leave or otherwise; (e) is discharged; (f) has escaped; or (g) has been served with a protective order that was requested by the victim;

(2) Automatically notify a registered victim via the victim's choice of telephone, letter, or e-mail when an offender has: (a) an upcoming court event where the victim is entitled to be present, if the court information is made available to the statewide automated victim information and notification system administrator at the Washington association of sheriffs and police chiefs; (b) an upcoming parole, pardon, or community supervision hearing; or (c) a change in the offender's parole, probation, or community supervision status.

Provides that an appointed or elected official, public employee, or public agency as defined in RCW 4.24.470, or units of government and its employees, as provided in RCW 36.28A.010, are immune from civil liability for damages for any release of information or the failure to release information related to the statewide automated victim information and notification system and the jail booking and reporting system as described in this act, so long as the release was without gross negligence. The immunity provided under this provision applies to the release of relevant and necessary information to other public officials, public employees, or public agencies, and to the general public.

Declares that participation in the statewide automated victim information and notification program satisfies any obligation to notify the crime victim of an offender's custody status and the status of the offender's upcoming court events so long as: (1) Information making offender and case data available is provided on a timely basis to the statewide automated victim information and notification program; and

(2) Information a victim submits to register and participate in the victim notification system is only used for the sole purpose of victim notification.

Provides that, in Washington any vendor contracted to provide a statewide automated victim notification service must deliver the service with a minimum of 99.95-percent availability and with less than an average of one-percent notification errors as a result of the vendor's technology.

Provides that the department of corrections is not required to provide any data to the Washington association of sheriffs and police chiefs for the statewide automated victim information and notification system as stated in this act, until January 1, 2010.