Z-0130.4 _______________________________________________
SENATE BILL 5648
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State of Washington 53rd Legislature 1993 Regular Session
By Senators A. Smith, Rinehart, Hargrove, Nelson, Niemi and Winsley; by request of Department of Corrections
Read first time 02/08/93. Referred to Committee on Law & Justice.
AN ACT Relating to alien offenders; and adding a new section to chapter 9.94A RCW.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. A new section is added to chapter 9.94A RCW to read as follows:
(1) Subject to the limitations of this section, any alien offender committed to the custody of the department under the sentencing reform act of 1981, chapter 9.94A RCW, who has been found by the United States attorney general to be subject to a final order of deportation or exclusion, may be placed on conditional release status and released to the immigration and naturalization service for deportation at any time prior to the expiration of the offender's criminal sentence, if, in the discretion of the secretary or the secretary's designee, such release is in the best interests of the state of Washington.
(2) Releases under this section may occur only with the approval of the sentencing court and the prosecuting attorney of the county of conviction.
(3) No offender may be released under this section who is serving a sentence for a violent offense or sex offense, as defined in RCW 9.94A.030, or any other offense that is a crime against a person.
(4) The department may issue a warrant for the arrest of any offender released under this section who thereafter illegally reenters the United States prior to the expiration of the offender's criminal sentence. The criminal sentence of any offender released under this section shall continue to run until such time as the department issues a warrant for the offender's arrest, at which time the offender's sentence will be tolled. The sentencing court shall determine, by a preponderance of the evidence, whether the offender has reentered the United States illegally and shall determine, in its discretion, whether the offender shall be required to serve the remainder of the offender's criminal sentence within the department or shall be delivered to the custody of the immigration and naturalization service. An offender who is required to complete his or her criminal sentence under this subsection must fully comply with all the terms and conditions of such sentence.
(5) Alien offenders released to the immigration and naturalization service for deportation under this section are not thereby relieved of their obligation to pay restitution or other legal financial obligations ordered by the sentencing court.
(6) Any offender released pursuant to this section who returns illegally to the United States may not thereafter be released again pursuant to this section.
(7) The secretary is authorized to take all reasonable actions to implement this section and shall assist federal authorities in prosecuting alien offenders who may illegally reenter the United States and enter the state of Washington.
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