BILL REQ. #:  H-3062.4 

Read first time 01/17/12.   Referred to Committee on Public Safety & Emergency Preparedness.

     AN ACT Relating to creating a citizens' custody review board; amending RCW 9.94A.728; and adding a new chapter to Title 9 RCW.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   Washington state will benefit through the adoption of a citizens' custody review board, an entity authorized to determine whether individuals, whom society no longer needs to hold in prison for public safety, should be released from custody.
     With the availability of trained medical professionals and assessment tools to conduct analyses of an offender's risk to reoffend, the incarceration of low-risk, long-term offenders has no merit when such incarceration diverts limited public resources at the expense of public education, health, and other public services.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2    It is the policy of Washington state that:
     (1) A citizens' custody review board be established to review custody records of offenders who have been sentenced to the department of corrections and, except as provided in subsection (2) of this section, shall have exclusive jurisdiction over all offenders who have served:
     (a) Twenty years or more of a sentence imposed by the court pursuant to a single cause number; or
     (b) A total of twenty-five years in the department of corrections pursuant to multiple cause numbers since the offender was eighteen years of age.
     (2) The citizens' custody review board shall not have jurisdiction over offenders sentenced pursuant to RCW 9.94A.507 or sentenced as persistent offenders, as defined in 9.94A.030(37)(b).
     (3) The citizens' custody review board shall:
     (a) Consist of five members, in accordance with the following:
     (i) At least one retired judge;
     (ii) At least two persons who have employment experience as a police officer or corrections official; and
     (iii) At least one former offender.
     (b) Serve at the discretion of the governor and the first five appointed members may serve varied term lengths as set by the governor. Thereafter, each appointee shall serve a three-year term. The governor shall appoint the chair of the citizens' custody review board;
     (c) By agreement of the members, set meeting dates and provide thirty days in advance of each meeting. The citizens' custody review board shall meet at least four times per year. Special meetings may be called, as needed, as determined by the chair; and
     (d) Serve without compensation. While conducting the business of the citizens' custody review board, members may receive per diem expenses pursuant to the rules of the office of financial management.
     (4) Three of the members shall be appointed by the governor and two of the members shall be appointed by the Washington state association of counties.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   (1) The department of corrections shall provide space in which the citizens' custody review board may meet and conduct its business and shall provide clerical assistance.
     (2) The citizens' custody review board may conduct business in a space provided by a local reentry coalition if such space is made available.
     (3)(a) The citizens' custody review board shall survey community reentry organizations, by county, shall determine the ability of each organization to provide support for offenders returning to communities; and shall designate one or more local reentry coalitions to be responsible for offenders who are released pursuant to this act.
     (b) Only local reentry coalitions designated by the citizens' custody review board shall be responsible for the supervision of an offender released under this act.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 4   (1) The citizens' custody review board shall meet to review cases selected by the chair.
     (2) Priority for initial applications for review shall be given to offenders with the most time served. The citizens' custody review board, within ninety days of receipt of an application from an offender, must provide to each applicant an estimated schedule for review of the application and determination regarding eligibility for release.
     (3) The citizens' custody review board shall consider the criteria set forth in section 6 of this act when:
     (a) Making its decision regarding the release of an offender from the custody of the department of corrections; and
     (b) Determining the conditions of an offender's release.
     (4) The citizens' custody review board shall consult with local or regional community custody offices of the department of corrections and with local law enforcement to establish postrelease conditions for an offender.
     (5) During the first twelve months of an offender's release by the citizens' custody review board, the local reentry coalition responsible for the offender's supervision shall provide monthly progress reports to the citizens' custody review board. Thereafter, the local reentry coalition shall provide quarterly reports until the offender has completed his or her second year in the community.
     (6) A majority vote by the members of the citizens' custody review board controls in the determination of:
     (a) An offender's application for release; and
     (b) Whether an offender who has been released shall be returned to the custody of the department of corrections.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 5   (1) Within one year of the effective date of this section, the citizens' custody review board shall complete the review of records of offenders identified by the department of corrections who qualify for release from custody pursuant to section 2(1) of this act.
     (2) An offender or the secretary of the department of corrections, on behalf of an offender, may petition the citizens' custody review board based upon the offender's proven potential to reenter society as a functioning citizen.
     (3) Upon the denial of an offender's petition for release, the citizens' custody review board may schedule a subsequent hearing to review the offender's application for release.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 6   (1) The citizens' custody review board may consider the following factors in its determination of whether an offender shall be released from the department of corrections before the end of his or her sentence:
     (a) The length of time served by the offender in total confinement within the department of corrections;
     (b) Documentation of participation in rehabilitation activities and volunteer programs provided within the department of corrections;
     (c) The existence of a local citizens' reentry coalition program for transitioning offenders or evidence of local community or family support for the offender seeking release;
     (d) A local citizens' reentry coalition, or community or family support group must be able to provide necessary support services for successful reentry, as determined by the citizens' custody review board;
     (e) Results of consultation by the citizens' custody review board with the local or regional community corrections offices regarding available resources to support a released offender;
     (f) The offender's likelihood to reoffend as determined by the results of a risk assessment conducted by the department of corrections;
     (g) The offender's level of education or skills training;
     (h) The existence of a reentry plan that has been approved by the citizens' custody review board; and
     (i) Public safety.
     (2) If the citizens' custody review board denies release for an offender, the offender may again petition for release under this act after at least three years have elapsed from the date of the denial.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 7   (1) If an offender violates the terms of release as set by the citizens' custody review board, a three-member panel of members of the board shall convene to determine whether to petition the full citizens' custody review board to provide additional postrelease support to the offender or to return the offender to the department of corrections to serve the remainder of his or her sentence.
     (a) The three-member panel shall conduct a hearing, and the proceeding shall not be subject to chapter 34.05 RCW, the administrative procedure act.
     (b) Prior to the hearing, the panel shall verify that proper notice of the hearing has been given and that the offender was properly served with the notice of allegations, hearing, and rights.
     (c) The hearing shall be electronically recorded and the recording shall be retained for twelve months.
     (d) The offender may call witnesses to testify on his or her behalf at the hearing. The panel may limit the number of witnesses and the scope of testimony to matters relevant to the allegations.
     (e) The hearing shall be open to the public unless a majority of the members of the panel, for a specifically stated reason, closes the hearing in whole or in part.
     (f) The panel:
     (i) Shall evaluate evidence and weigh the credibility of the witnesses;
     (ii) May question witnesses in an impartial manner to elicit any facts deemed necessary to fairly and adequately decide the matter;
     (iii) Shall render or defer a decision; and
     (iv) Shall take any other actions necessary and authorized by this act and law.
     (2) When requested by the citizens' custody review board, the local or regional community corrections office shall act promptly to return an offender to the custody of the department of corrections, under its existing procedures.
     (3) The decision of the citizens' custody review board to return an offender to custody pursuant to this section is final.

Sec. 8   RCW 9.94A.728 and 2010 c 224 s 6 are each amended to read as follows:
     No person serving a sentence imposed pursuant to this chapter and committed to the custody of the department shall leave the confines of the correctional facility or be released prior to the expiration of the sentence except as follows:
     (1) An offender may earn early release time as authorized by RCW 9.94A.729;
     (2) An offender may leave a correctional facility pursuant to an authorized furlough or leave of absence. In addition, offenders may leave a correctional facility when in the custody of a corrections officer or officers;
     (3)(a) The secretary may authorize an extraordinary medical placement for an offender when all of the following conditions exist:
     (i) The offender has a medical condition that is serious and is expected to require costly care or treatment;
     (ii) The offender poses a low risk to the community because he or she is currently physically incapacitated due to age or the medical condition or is expected to be so at the time of release; and
     (iii) It is expected that granting the extraordinary medical placement will result in a cost savings to the state.
     (b) An offender sentenced to death or to life imprisonment without the possibility of release or parole is not eligible for an extraordinary medical placement.
     (c) The secretary shall require electronic monitoring for all offenders in extraordinary medical placement unless the electronic monitoring equipment interferes with the function of the offender's medical equipment or results in the loss of funding for the offender's medical care, in which case, an alternative type of monitoring shall be utilized. The secretary shall specify who shall provide the monitoring services and the terms under which the monitoring shall be performed.
     (d) The secretary may revoke an extraordinary medical placement under this subsection at any time.
     (e) Persistent offenders are not eligible for extraordinary medical placement;
     (4) The governor, upon recommendation from the clemency and pardons board, may grant an extraordinary release for reasons of serious health problems, senility, advanced age, extraordinary meritorious acts, or other extraordinary circumstances;
     (5) No more than the final six months of the offender's term of confinement may be served in partial confinement designed to aid the offender in finding work and reestablishing himself or herself in the community or no more than the final twelve months of the offender's term of confinement may be served in partial confinement as part of the parenting program in RCW 9.94A.6551. This is in addition to that period of earned early release time that may be exchanged for partial confinement pursuant to RCW 9.94A.729(5)(d);
     (6) The governor may pardon any offender;
     (7) The department may release an offender from confinement any time within ten days before a release date calculated under this section;
     (8) An offender may leave a correctional facility prior to completion of his or her sentence if the sentence has been reduced as provided in RCW 9.94A.870; ((and))
     (9) An offender may be released upon the decision of the citizens' custody review board pursuant to sections 2, 5, and 6 of this act; and
     (10) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this section, an offender sentenced for a felony crime listed in RCW 9.94A.540 as subject to a mandatory minimum sentence of total confinement shall not be released from total confinement before the completion of the listed mandatory minimum sentence for that felony crime of conviction unless allowed under RCW 9.94A.540.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 9   Except as otherwise restricted by federal law, an offender released pursuant to this act is subject only to the conditions of release established by the citizens' custody review board.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 10   The Washington state institute for public policy shall conduct a study of the effect of this act on recidivism and other outcomes. By December 1, 2014, the institute shall make a preliminary report of its findings to the governor and the appropriate legislative committees. By December 1, 2015, the institute shall make a final report of its findings to the governor and the appropriate legislative committees.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 11   Sections 1 through 7, 9, and 10 of this act constitute a new chapter in Title 9 RCW.