Washington State

House of Representatives

Office of Program Research

BILL

ANALYSIS

Public Safety Committee

HB 1679

This analysis was prepared by non-partisan legislative staff for the use of legislative members in their deliberations. This analysis is not a part of the legislation nor does it constitute a statement of legislative intent.

Background:

Identicards.

The Department of Licensing (DOL) issues identification cards known as identicards. Identicards expire on the sixth anniversary of the applicant's birthdate after issuance, at which time they may be renewed. The DOL must issue an identicard to any applicant who:

does not hold a valid Washington driver's license;
proves his or her identity; and
pays a $54 fee, which may be reduced to the cost of identicard production if the applicant receives public assistance grants.

Issuance of Identicards to Released Offenders.

The DOL and the Department of Corrections (DOC) have a memorandum of understanding to issue identicards to offenders released from correctional facilities. Before an offender is released, the DOC provides the DOL with the offender's identifying information. Once released, an offender may present his or her DOC-issued identification card at a DOL office, where a DOL employee verifies the offender's identity and collects the applicable $54 fee before issuing an identicard.

In 2016 the Governor issued Executive Order 16-05 "Building Safe and Strong Communities Through Successful Reentry" requiring the DOL to identify a mechanism to ensure that all offenders leaving a state correctional facility have an identification card.

Monroe Correctional Complex Pilot Program.

The DOL and the DOC previously administered a pilot identicard program within the Monroe Correctional Complex (MCC). The program provided offenders with a state-issued identicard, which expired on the first anniversary of the offender's birthdate after issuance. Expenditures for the pilot program were funded out of the 2014 Supplemental Operating Budget, and the DOL was not permitted to charge any fee to an offender.

Offenders were eligible for an identicard provided they:

proved their identity, which could be done using a DOC-issued identification card;
were under the custody of the DOC;
had been sentenced to a period of incarceration exceeding one year and one day; and
were within two months of release from the MCC.

Summary of Bill:

The DOC, working in conjunction with the DOL, must create and implement a program to provide a state-issued identicard to certain offenders released within Washington. The DOC and the DOL may implement the program over a period of time not to exceed 12 months and may enter into a memorandum of understanding to do so.

An offender is eligible for an identicard provided he or she:

is sentenced to DOC custody, and is incarcerated within a correctional facility with an earned release date that is more than one year from his or her admission date;
has not been found by the United States Attorney General to be subject to a deportation detainer or order and does not become subject to a deportation order during the period of incarceration; and
is expected to be released to a location within Washington.

A DOC-issued identification card may serve as proof of identity and residency in obtaining an identicard. An identicard issued under this program expires two years from the first anniversary of the offender's birthdate after issuance.

The DOL may charge the DOC an $18 fee for each identicard issued under this program. The DOC may seek reimbursement from the offender and may deduct the identicard's cost from the offender's mandatory savings account or from funds that have been received on the offender's behalf for the identicard.