H-3846              _______________________________________________

                                                   HOUSE BILL NO. 1667

                        _______________________________________________

State of Washington                              49th Legislature                              1986 Regular Session

By Representatives K. Wilson,  Allen, Belcher, Fisher, Scott, Rust and Brekke

Read first time 1/21/86 and referred to Committee on Judiciary.

AN ACT Relating to assault; amending RCW 9A.16.020; and adding a new section to chapter 9A.16 RCW.

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1.  A new section is added to chapter 9A.16 RCW to read as follows:

          It is the policy of this state to protect our children from assault and abuse and to encourage parents, teachers, and their authorized agents to use more effective methods of correction and restraint than assault of children.  However, it is not unlawful for a parent or his or her agent to use reasonable and moderate force for purposes of restraining or correcting the child.  The use of force on a child by any other person is unlawful unless it is reasonable and moderate and is authorized in advance by the child's parent or guardian for purposes of restraining or correcting the child.

          The following acts are never reasonable when used to correct or restrain a child and are therefore unlawful acts of assault:            (1) Throwing, kicking, burning, or cutting a child; (2) striking a child with a closed fist; (3) striking a child above the shoulders; (4) shaking a child under age three; (5) interfering with a child's breathing; (6) threatening a child with a deadly weapon; or (7) doing any other act that is likely to cause and which does cause bodily harm greater than transient pain.  This list is meant to be illustrative of unlawful acts of assault and is not intended to be exclusive.

        Sec. 2.  Section 9A.16.020, chapter 260, Laws of 1975 1st ex. sess. as last amended by section 7, chapter 244, Laws of 1979 ex. sess. and RCW 9A.16.020 are each amended to read as follows:

          The use, attempt, or offer to use force upon or toward the person of another is not unlawful in the following cases:

          (1) Whenever necessarily used by a public officer in the performance of a legal duty, or a person assisting him and acting under his direction;

          (2) Whenever necessarily used by a person arresting one who has committed a felony and delivering him to a public officer competent to receive him into custody;

          (3) Whenever used by a party about to be injured, or by another lawfully aiding him, in preventing or attempting to prevent an offense against his person, or a malicious trespass, or other malicious interference with real or personal property lawfully in his possession, in case the force is not more than is necessary;

          (4) Whenever reasonably used by a person to detain someone who enters or remains unlawfully in a building or on real property lawfully in the possession of such person, so long as such detention is reasonable in duration and manner to investigate the reason for the detained person's presence on the premises, and so long as the premises in question did not reasonably appear to be intended to be open to members of the public;

          (5) ((Whenever used in a reasonable and moderate manner by a parent or his authorized agent, a guardian, master, or teacher in the exercise of lawful authority, to restrain or correct his child, ward, apprentice, or scholar;

          (6))) Whenever used by a carrier of passengers or his authorized agent or servant, or other person assisting them at their request in expelling from a carriage, railway car, vessel, or other vehicle, a passenger who refuses to obey a lawful and reasonable regulation prescribed for the conduct of passengers, if such vehicle has first been stopped and the force used is not more than is necessary to expel the offender with reasonable regard to his personal safety;

          (((7))) (6) Whenever used by any person to prevent a mentally ill, mentally incompetent, or mentally disabled person from committing an act dangerous to himself or another, or in enforcing necessary restraint for the protection of his person, or his restoration to health, during such period only as is necessary to obtain legal authority for the restraint or custody of his person.