S-2958

AN ACT Relating to juvenile serious habitual offenders; adding a new section to chapter 2.56 RCW; and adding a new chapter to Title 13 RCW.

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature finds that a substantial and disproportionate amount of serious crime is committed by a relatively small number of chronic juvenile offenders commonly known as serious habitual offenders. It is the intent of the legislature that law enforcement officials, prosecuting attorneys, juvenile probation and detention departments, schools, and the division of juvenile rehabilitation work cooperatively to identify these offenders early in their careers, investigate and record their activities, prosecute them aggressively, and supervise them intensively in institutions and in the community. The legislature further intends to increase interagency efforts to gather comprehensive data and actively disseminate it to the agencies in the juvenile justice system, and produce more informed decisions by all agencies in that system through effective organizational and operational techniques.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. (1) The serious habitual offender grant program is established within the department of community development. All state funds appropriated to the department of community development for the purposes of this chapter shall be coordinated or consolidated with federal funds that may be made available for these purposes.

The program shall include:

(a) An advisory board consisting of representatives from prosecuting attorney's offices, law enforcement agencies, juvenile probation and detention departments, school districts, and the division of children and family services and juvenile rehabilitation services in the department of social and health services.

(b) The awarding of grants to local government, educational, or nonprofit entities to create information gathering and analysis projects responsible for the identification of juveniles who are serious habitual offenders and for the dissemination of information about the activities of those offenders to all elements of the juvenile justice system.

(2) Each project shall:

(a) Establish criteria for labeling a juvenile as a serious habitual offender and identify serious habitual offenders in accordance with the established criteria.

(b) Compile and maintain active serious habitual offender lists and circulate data on serious habitual offenders to participating agencies on a routine basis.

(c) Compile comprehensive profiles on each serious habitual offender and keep them updated as well as keep participating agencies updated on serious habitual offender activities as they occur.

(d) Track the serious habitual offenders through all stages of the justice system to insure that the offenders' cases do not become displaced within the justice system and that offenders are held strictly accountable to all orders of the court.

(3) Each applicant must demonstrate, via an interagency agreement, the participation of the county's law enforcement officials, prosecuting attorney's office, juvenile probation department, school districts, and state and regional department of social and health services officials, as provided in section 4 of this act. Projects shall require that:

(a) Each participating law enforcement agency:

(i) Insure that all field contacts with identified serious habitual offenders are documented and reports are routed to the program's coordinating agency serious habitual offender coordinator.

(ii) Make an arrest if an identified serious habitual offender has committed a violation of law and probable cause exists to arrest the offender. Law enforcement officers shall arrest the offender at the time of the offense, unless the arrest, at that time, would adversely affect further investigation of the offense.

(iii) Take the offender to the juvenile detention facility for booking if the identified serious habitual offender has committed any bookable offense.

(b) Each participating prosecuting attorney's office:

(i) File charges based on the most serious provable offenses of each arrest of a serious habitual offender.

(ii) Use all reasonable prosecutorial efforts to resist the release, where appropriate, of the serious habitual offender at all stages of the prosecution.

(iii) Seek an admission of guilt on all offenses charged in the informations against the offender. The only cases in which the prosecutor may request the court to reduce or dismiss the charges are cases in which the prosecutor decides there is insufficient evidence to prove the state's case, the testimony of a material witness cannot be obtained, or a reduction or dismissal will not result in a substantial change in sentence, or prosecution will not serve the public interest. In those cases, the prosecutor shall inform the program agencies stating the specific factual and legal basis for such a disposition.

(iv) Prosecute all cases involving serious habitual offenders with the prosecutor who makes the initial filing decision or appearance performing all subsequent court appearances on that case through its conclusion, including the disposition phase.

(v) Make all reasonable prosecutorial efforts to persuade the court to impose the most appropriate sentence upon such an offender at the time of disposition.

(vi) Make all reasonable prosecutorial efforts to reduce the time between arrest and disposition of the charge.

(vii) Act as a liaison with the court and other criminal justice agencies to establish local policies regarding the program and to ensure interagency cooperation in the planning and implementation of the program.

(viii) Provide support and assistance to other agencies engaged in the program.

(i) Give priority to detaining serious habitual offenders in custody who lack proper and effective parental care and control and who have no one willing to assume or capable of assuming the parental role and the serious habitual offender is serving a sentence, held pending bail, or in violation of a court order.

(ii) Consider the data relating to serious habitual offenders when making all decisions regarding the identified individual and include relevant data in written reports to the court.

(iii) Immediately file petitions for warrants or reviews on all serious habitual offenders' violations of probation, court orders, and bond conditions.

(iv) Establish local policies in cooperation with law enforcement and the prosecuting attorney, schools, and the juvenile court regarding the program and provide support and assistance to other agencies engaged in the program.

(d) Each participating school district:

(i) Cooperate in providing data on students identified by definition of this chapter as serious habitual offenders, for profiling by participating agencies pursuant to interagency agreement. Such data shall include but not be limited to past and current accounts of truancy, disruptive behavior, disciplinary actions, and suspension or expulsion history.

(ii) Report all crimes that are committed on campus by serious habitual offenders to law enforcement.

(iii) Report all violations of probation committed on campus by serious habitual offenders to the probation officer and project coordinator.

(iv) Provide educational supervision and social or educational services appropriate to serious habitual offenders attending schools.

(v) Establish local policies in cooperation with law enforcement, the prosecuting attorney, the probation department, and the juvenile court regarding the program and provide support and assistance to other agencies engaged in the program.

(vi) Have the option of notifying participating agencies under this chapter, individually or collectively, about students of concern which have come to their attention as being potentially at risk of becoming serious habitual offenders, the purpose of which shall be to utilize the combined agencies' resources for deterring juveniles from acquiring serious habitual offender status.

(e) The department of social and health services:

(i) Coordinate with participating agencies under this chapter per interagency agreement to identify serious habitual offenders.

(ii) Cooperate in providing data on juveniles identified by this chapter as serious habitual offenders for profiling by participating agencies pursuant to interagency agreement. Such data shall include, but not be limited to, child protective services reports involving the serious habitual offender, contacts, state or county-funded intelligence and psychological evaluations, and group home placement behavior reports.

(4) The administrator for the courts shall cooperate with projects funded under this chapter, as provided for in section 7 of this act.

(5) By April 1, 1993, each funded project shall submit to the department of community development a written report regarding achievement of program goals. The department of community development will then submit to the legislature a written summary of the reports. The reports, individually and collectively shall do all of the following:

(a) Document the amount of serious crime committed by serious habitual offenders.

(b) Provide statistical documentation regarding the total number of juveniles identified by the project, the types of offenses committed, the manner in which cases are disposed, and a statistical profile of the average juvenile who qualifies for the program.

(d) Review new operational and organizational techniques used in gathering and disseminating information, and in prosecution and in monitoring and supervising serious habitual offenders.

(e) Compare this program and its effectiveness with the techniques and methods used prior to the implementation of the program.

(6) All participating agencies shall establish standard operating procedures with the programs's coordinating agency to facilitate the exchange of information, reports, and data. All participating agencies shall cooperate in providing the statistical information required by the coordinating agency for the annual progress reports to the department of community development.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. The division of juvenile rehabilitation services of the department of social and health services shall give priority to institutional placement of offenders convicted and identified as serious habitual offenders.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. Prior to implementation of a serious habitual offender project, all participating agencies in a county shall execute a written interagency agreement outlining their role in the project, including the duties they will perform, the duties other agencies will perform for and with them, and the categories of information to be collected and the plan for its distribution and use. All participating agencies will meet no less than once each month to plan, implement, and refine the operation of the project and to exchange information about individuals subject to the project, and other related topics.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. Law enforcement agencies and prosecuting attorneys participating in projects pursuant to this chapter shall adopt procedures to require a check of juvenile criminal history of all adults whose cases are presented to the prosecuting attorney's office for filing. The juvenile criminal history shall be considered by the prosecuting attorney in the charging decision and establishing the prosecuting attorney's position on the appropriate plea and sentence.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. For the purposes of this chapter, school districts are juvenile care agencies as defined in RCW 13.50.010.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 7. A new section is added to chapter 2.56 RCW to read as follows:

The administrator for the courts shall cooperate with serious habitual offender projects funded by the department of community development as provided in chapter 13.-- RCW (sections 1 through 6 of this act) by providing them with quarterly reports identifying juveniles by name and date of birth who meet the criteria established by the project for serious habitual offenders.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 8. Sections 1 through 6 of this act shall constitute a new chapter in Title 13 RCW.