BILL REQ. #:  H-4078.1 

READ FIRST TIME 02/05/14.   

     AN ACT Relating to electronic monitoring; creating a new section; and providing an expiration date.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   (1) A work group on electronic home monitoring is established to study and make recommendations relating to establishing statewide standards for electronic home monitoring in Washington state.
     (2) The work group shall consist of the following members:
     (a) One member from each of the two largest caucuses of the senate, appointed by the president of the senate;
     (b) One member from each of the two largest caucuses of the house of representatives, appointed by the speaker of the house of representatives;
     (c) The chief of the Washington state patrol or the chief's designee;
     (d) The secretary of the department of corrections or the secretary's designee;
     (e) The executive director of the Washington association of sheriffs and police chiefs or the executive director's designee;
     (f) One member representing the superior court judges' association;
     (g) One member representing the district and municipal court judges' association;
     (h) One member representing the Washington state association of counties;
     (i) One member representing the Washington association of prosecuting attorneys;
     (j) One member representing the Washington defender's association or the Washington association of criminal defense lawyers;
     (k) One member representing the Washington coalition of crime victim advocates; and
     (l) At least two members, appointed by the governor, who represent agencies engaged in the electronic monitoring of offenders in Washington state.
     (3) Members of the work group shall select a chair or cochairs from among its legislative membership.
     (4) At a minimum, the work group shall research, review, and make recommendations on:
     (a) Imposing reporting standards on public and private agencies which monitor individuals through electronic home monitoring to govern how quickly and frequently courts, prosecutors and law enforcements should be notified of violations;
     (b) Imposing monitoring standards to govern how often and by which methods agencies must verify monitored individual's activities;
     (c) Imposing operational requirements on agencies to ensure continued monitoring around the clock, including staffing and equipment requirements, contingency plans, and bonding and insurance requirements;
     (d) Ensuring professional requirements, such as background checks and prohibitions on private relationships between agencies or agency employees and monitored individuals;
     (e) Ensuring compliance with any standards imposed, by methods such as auditing requirements or other oversight, and penalties; and
     (f) Improving accountability for individuals on supervision and consistency, as appropriate, of the terms of electronic home monitoring for similar monitored individuals.
     (5) The work group shall compile its findings and recommendations for electronic home monitoring into a final report and provide its report to the appropriate committees of the legislature and governor by December 1, 2014.
     (6) The work group shall function within existing resources and no specific budget may be provided to complete the report. The participants are encouraged to donate their time to offset any costs.
     (7) This section expires January 1, 2015.