AN
ACT Relating to criminal history records; and amending RCW 10.97.030 and
10.98.050.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE
LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
Sec.
1. RCW
10.97.030 and 1998 c 297 s 49 are each amended to read as follows:
For
purposes of this chapter, the definitions of terms in this section shall apply.
(1)
"Criminal history record information" means information contained in
records collected by criminal justice agencies, other than courts, on
individuals, consisting of identifiable descriptions and notations of arrests,
detentions, indictments, informations, or other formal criminal charges, and
any disposition arising therefrom, including acquittals by reason of insanity,
dismissals based on lack of competency, sentences, correctional supervision,
and release.
The
term includes information contained in records maintained by or obtained from
criminal justice agencies, other than courts, which records provide individual
identification of a person together with any portion of the individual's record
of involvement in the criminal justice system as an alleged or convicted
offender, except:
(a)
Posters, announcements, or lists for identifying or apprehending fugitives or
wanted persons;
(b)
Original records of entry maintained by criminal justice agencies to the extent
that such records are compiled and maintained chronologically and are
accessible only on a chronological basis;
(c)
Court indices and records of public judicial proceedings, court decisions, and
opinions, and information disclosed during public judicial proceedings;
(d)
Records of traffic violations which are not punishable by a maximum term of
imprisonment of more than ninety days;
(e)
Records of any traffic offenses as maintained by the department of licensing
for the purpose of regulating the issuance, suspension, revocation, or renewal
of drivers' or other operators' licenses and pursuant to RCW 46.52.130;
(f)
Records of any aviation violations or offenses as maintained by the department
of transportation for the purpose of regulating pilots or other aviation
operators, and pursuant to RCW 47.68.330;
(g)
Announcements of executive clemency.
(2)
"Nonconviction data" consists of all criminal history record
information relating to an incident which has not led to a conviction or other
disposition adverse to the subject, and for which proceedings are no longer
actively pending. There shall be a rebuttable presumption that proceedings are
no longer actively pending if more than one year has elapsed since arrest,
citation, charge, or service of warrant and no disposition has been
entered.
(3)
"Conviction record" means criminal history record information
relating to an incident which has led to a conviction or other disposition
adverse to the subject.
(4)
"Conviction or other disposition adverse to the subject" means any
disposition of charges other than: (a) A decision not to prosecute; (b) a
dismissal; or (c) acquittal; with the following exceptions, which shall be
considered dispositions adverse to the subject: An acquittal due to a finding
of not guilty by reason of insanity and a dismissal by reason of incompetency,
pursuant to chapter 10.77 RCW; and a dismissal entered after a period of
probation, suspension, or deferral of sentence.
(5)
"Criminal justice agency" means: (a) A court; or (b) a government
agency which performs the administration of criminal justice pursuant to a
statute or executive order and which allocates a substantial part of its annual
budget to the administration of criminal justice.
(6)
"The administration of criminal justice" means performance of any of
the following activities: Detection, apprehension, detention, pretrial
release, post-trial release, prosecution, adjudication, correctional
supervision, or rehabilitation of accused persons or criminal offenders. The
term also includes criminal identification activities and the collection,
storage, dissemination of criminal history record information, and the
compensation of victims of crime.
(7)
"Disposition" means the formal conclusion of a criminal proceeding at
whatever stage it occurs in the criminal justice system.
(8)
"Dissemination" means disclosing criminal history record information
or disclosing the absence of criminal history record information to any person
or agency outside the agency possessing the information, subject to the
following exceptions:
(a)
When criminal justice agencies jointly participate in the maintenance of a
single record keeping department as an alternative to maintaining separate
records, the furnishing of information by that department to personnel of any
participating agency is not a dissemination;
(b)
The furnishing of information by any criminal justice agency to another for the
purpose of processing a matter through the criminal justice system, such as a
police department providing information to a prosecutor for use in preparing a
charge, is not a dissemination;
(c)
The reporting of an event to a record keeping agency for the purpose of
maintaining the record is not a dissemination.
Sec.
2. RCW
10.98.050 and 1989 c 6 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
(1)
It is the duty of the chief law enforcement officer or the local director of
corrections to transmit within seventy-two hours from the time of arrest to the
section fingerprints together with other identifying data as may be prescribed
by the section, and statutory violations of any person lawfully arrested,
fingerprinted, and photographed under RCW 43.43.735. The disposition report
shall be transmitted to the prosecuting attorney, county clerk, or
appropriate court of limited jurisdiction, whichever is responsible for
transmitting the report to the section under RCW 10.98.010.
(2) At the preliminary hearing or the arraignment of a felony case,
the judge shall ensure that the felony defendants have been fingerprinted and
an arrest and fingerprint form transmitted to the section. In cases where
fingerprints have not been taken, the judge shall order the chief law
enforcement officer of the jurisdiction or the local director of corrections,
or, in the case of a juvenile, the juvenile court administrator to initiate an
arrest and fingerprint form and transmit it to the section. The disposition
report shall be transmitted to the prosecuting attorney.
