AN ACT Relating to criminal justice assistance; amending RCW 82.44.020 and 82.44.110; adding a new chapter to Title 43 RCW; creating a new section; making an appropriation; providing effective dates; and declaring an emergency.

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter.

(1) "Committee" means the criminal justice assistance advisory committee.

(2) "Target offenses" means serious traffic offenses and crimes of domestic violence as defined in RCW 10.99.020.

(3) "Serious traffic offenses" means driving or in physical control of a motor vehicle while under the influence of intoxicating liquor or drugs and driving while a driver's license has been suspended.

(4) "Prosecution and adjudication" means the process of apprehending, prosecuting, and adjudicating a person for a target offense, and includes costs incurred for the sentencing and incarceration of a defendant.

(5) "Account" means the criminal justice assistance account in the state general fund.

(6) "Uniquely impacted jurisdiction" means a city or county that bears a disproportionate burden of the prosecution and adjudication of target offenses.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. There is hereby created in the state general fund the criminal justice assistance account. Moneys in the account shall be spent only for the purposes specified in this chapter and pursuant to appropriation by law.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. The office of financial management shall distribute grants from the account to cities and counties to enhance the prosecution and adjudication of target offenses. Applications by cities and counties for such grants shall be evaluated and prioritized by the office of financial management with the advice of the criminal justice assistance advisory committee.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. (1) The criminal justice assistance advisory committee is established. It shall consist of:

(a) Two prosecuting attorneys appointed by the Washington association of prosecuting attorneys;

(b) One municipal attorney and one elected municipal official appointed by the association of Washington cities;

(d) Two district court judges and one municipal court judge appointed by the Washington state magistrates association;

(e) The administrator for the courts, or the administrator's designee;

(f) Two sheriffs and two police chiefs appointed by the Washington association of sheriffs and chiefs of police; and

(g) Two superior court judges appointed by the association of superior court judges.

(2) Members of the committee shall be appointed by June 30 of each odd-numbered year and serve during the ensuing biennium. Vacancies shall be filled by the appointing authority specified in this section.

(3) Members of the committee shall be reimbursed for travel expenses in accordance with RCW 43.03.050 and 43.03.060.

(4) The committee shall:

(a) Advise the office of financial management in evaluating and prioritizing applications for grants under this chapter;

(b) Provide to the legislature by January 1 of each even-numbered year a report describing the committee's activity during the current biennium, the grants awarded and the results obtained, and recommendations for legislative priorities during the ensuing biennium, including funding levels, designation of target offenses, and the purposes for which moneys in the fund should be disbursed.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. The office of financial management and the committee shall use the following criteria in establishing priorities for grant applications under this chapter:

(1) The extent to which a jurisdiction is uniquely impacted by the incidence of target offenses;

(2) The extent to which municipalities within a county have formally or informally withdrawn from the prosecution and adjudication of target offenses as of January 1, 1984;

(3) The extent to which counties and cities have increased local expenditures for the prosecution and adjudication of target offenses in the previous three years;

(4) The extent to which counties and cities have maintained their level of local expenditures for the prosecution and adjudication of target offenses in the previous three years; and

(5) The extent to which counties and cities have exceeded their overall capacity to handle target offenses.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. (1) The office of financial management shall establish guidelines for grant applications consistent with the criteria set forth in section 5 of this act and shall transmit the guidelines and grant application forms to all cities and counties by July 1 of each odd-numbered year.

(2) Grant applications shall contain:

(a) Certification as to the number of employees prosecuting and adjudicating target offenses for the previous three years, and the time commitment of those employees to that purpose;

(b) Quantification of filings, dismissals, pleas to reduced charges, jury trials demanded and conducted, and deferred prosecutions. This information shall be grouped by target offense filings and total filings and shall be based on the best available data for the previous three years, including statistics from the administrator for the courts, uniform crime reports, department of licensing reports, and locally maintained records.

(c) Information on the county's or city's overall capacity to handle court caseloads, including jury and bench trials disposed of per judge, use of pro tem judges, and other techniques for handling caseloads;

(d) The use to which the grant moneys will be put and the anticipated results;

(e) A certified statement that the grant moneys will not be used to supplant local funds; and

(f) Other information deemed relevant by the office of financial management.

(3) Grant applications shall be made to the office of financial management by August 1 of each odd-numbered year.

(4) Counties and cities may submit joint grant applications.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 7. (1) The office of financial management may award grants in whole or in part based on priority, evaluation of need, and availability of appropriated moneys.

(2) Cities and counties receiving grants under this chapter shall ensure that local funds are not supplanted by the grant moneys and shall report by November 1 of each even-numbered year to the office of financial management the manner in which grant funds were expended and the results obtained from the grant. If the grant moneys are used to supplant local funds, the local government shall repay to the state the total amount of the grant moneys received under this chapter.

(3) The office of financial management may adopt such rules as are necessary for the implementation of this chapter.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 8. No city or county that received a grant under chapter 110, Laws of 1984, shall be awarded a grant under this chapter unless the city or county has complied with the requirements of section 5(2) of chapter 110, Laws of 1984, by filing with the office of financial management a report on the manner in which the grant was expended and the results obtained.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 9. The grants made to cities and counties under this act for the biennium ending June 30, 1987, shall be made subject to the following conditions:

(1) No more than seventy percent of the amounts awarded shall be for the prosecution and adjudication of serious traffic offenses, including awards to uniquely impacted jurisdictions;

(2) No more than ten percent of the amounts awarded shall be for the purpose of funding the use of existing structures that have not been constructed or used as jails or holding facilities for the incarceration of nonviolent serious traffic offenders who have no prior history of criminal convictions.

Sec. 10. Section 82.44.020, chapter 15, Laws of 1961 as last amended by section 19, chapter 3, Laws of 1983 2nd ex. sess. and RCW 82.44.020 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) An excise tax is imposed for the privilege of using in the state any motor vehicle, except those operated under reciprocal agreements, the provisions of RCW 46.16.160 as now or hereafter amended, or dealer's licenses. The annual amount of such excise tax shall be two percent of the fair market value of such vehicle.

(2) From and after August 1, 1978, and until August 1, 2008, an additional excise tax is imposed, in addition to any other tax imposed by this section, for the privilege of using in the state any such motor vehicle, and the annual amount of such additional excise shall be two-tenths of one percent of the fair market value of such vehicle.

(3) From and after the effective date of this 1985 act, an additional excise tax is imposed, in addition to any other tax imposed by this section, for the privilege of using in the state any such motor vehicle, and the annual amount of such additional excise tax shall be one-twentieth of one percent of the fair market value of such vehicle.

(4) The department of licensing and county auditors shall collect the additional tax imposed by subsections (2) and (3) of this section for any registration year for the months of that registration year in which such additional ((~~tax is~~)) taxes are effective, and in the same manner and at the same time as the tax imposed by subsection (1) of this section.

(4) In no case shall the total tax be less than two dollars except for proportionally registered vehicles.

(5) An additional tax is imposed equal to the taxes payable under subsections (1) and (2) of this section multiplied by the rate specified in RCW 82.02.030.

Sec. 11. Section 82.44.110, chapter 15, Laws of 1961 as last amended by section 12, chapter 35, Laws of 1982 1st ex. sess. and RCW 82.44.110 are each amended to read as follows:

The county auditor shall regularly, when remitting license fee receipts, pay over and account to the director of licensing for the excise taxes collected under the provisions of this chapter. The director shall forthwith transmit the excise taxes to the state treasurer, ninety-eight percent of which excise tax revenue shall upon receipt thereof be credited by the state treasurer to the general fund, and two percent of which excise tax revenue shall be credited by the state treasurer to the motor vehicle fund to defray administrative and other expenses incurred by the state department of licensing in the collection of the excise tax: PROVIDED, That one hundred percent of the proceeds of the additional two-tenths of one percent excise tax imposed by RCW 82.44.020(2), as now or hereafter amended, shall be credited by the state treasurer to the Puget Sound capital construction account in the motor vehicle fund: PROVIDED FURTHER, That one hundred percent of the proceeds of the additional one-twentieth of one percent excise tax imposed by RCW 82.44.020(3) shall be credited by the state treasurer to the criminal justice assistance account in the general fund: AND PROVIDED FURTHER, That all revenues collected under RCW 82.44.020(5) shall be credited by the state treasurer to the general fund.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 12. Sections 1 through 8 of this act shall constitute a new chapter in Title 43 RCW.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 13. (1) The state treasurer shall transfer to the criminal justice assistance account in the general fund all moneys remaining unexpended on June 30, 1985, from the appropriation contained in section 8, chapter 110, Laws of 1984.

(2) There is hereby appropriated to the office of financial management from the criminal justice assistance account the sum of .......... dollars for the biennium ending June 30, 1987, to carry out the purposes of this act.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 14. This act is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, and safety, the support of the state government and its existing public institutions. Sections 10 and 11 of this act shall take effect July 1, 1985. The remaining sections of this act shall take effect immediately.