H-4166.1 _______________________________________________
HOUSE BILL 2545
_______________________________________________
State of Washington 54th Legislature 1996 Regular Session
By Representatives Sehlin, Sheahan, Goldsmith, Robertson, L. Thomas, Mulliken, Sheldon, McMahan, Conway, Costa, Patterson, Chopp, Ogden, Hatfield, Hickel, Campbell, Mitchell, Morris, Johnson, Hymes, Thompson, Silver and McMorris
Read first time 01/12/96. Referred to Committee on Corrections.
AN ACT Relating to sex offender notification; and amending RCW 4.24.550 and 70.48.470.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
Sec. 1. RCW 4.24.550 and 1994 c 129 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:
(1) Public agencies are authorized to release relevant and necessary information regarding sex offenders to the public when the release of the information is necessary for public protection.
(2) Local law enforcement agencies and officials who decide to release information pursuant to this section shall make a good faith effort to notify the public and residents at least fourteen days before the sex offender is released. If a change occurs in the release plan, this notification provision will not require an extension of the release date. The department of corrections and the department of social and health services shall provide local law enforcement officials with all relevant information on sex offenders about to be released or placed into the community in a timely manner. When a sex offender under county jurisdiction will be released from jail and will reside in a county other than the county of incarceration, the chief law enforcement officer of the jail, or his or her designee, shall notify the sheriff in the county where the offender will reside of the offender's release as provided in RCW 70.48.470.
(3) An elected public official, public employee, or public agency as defined in RCW 4.24.470 is immune from civil liability for damages for any discretionary decision to release relevant and necessary information, unless it is shown that the official, employee, or agency acted with gross negligence or in bad faith. The authorization and immunity in this section applies to information regarding: (a) A person convicted of, or juvenile found to have committed, a sex offense as defined by RCW 9.94A.030; (b) a person found not guilty of a sex offense by reason of insanity under chapter 10.77 RCW; (c) a person found incompetent to stand trial for a sex offense and subsequently committed under chapter 71.05 or 71.34 RCW; (d) a person committed as a sexual psychopath under chapter 71.06 RCW; or (e) a person committed as a sexually violent predator under chapter 71.09 RCW. The immunity provided under this section applies to the release of relevant information to other employees or officials or to the general public.
(4) Except as otherwise provided by statute, nothing in this section shall impose any liability upon a public official, public employee, or public agency for failing to release information as provided in subsections (2) and (3) of this section.
(5) Nothing in this section implies that information regarding persons designated in subsections (2) and (3) of this section is confidential except as otherwise provided by statute.
Sec. 2. RCW 70.48.470 and 1990 c 3 s 406 are each amended to read as follows:
(1) A person having charge of a jail shall notify in writing any confined person who is in the custody of the jail for a conviction of a sexual offense as defined in RCW 9.94A.030 of the registration requirements of RCW 9A.44.130 at the time of the inmate's release from confinement, and shall obtain written acknowledgment of such notification. The person shall also obtain from the inmate the county of the inmate's residence upon release from jail.
(2) If an inmate convicted of a sexual offense will reside in a county other than the county of incarceration upon release, the chief law enforcement officer, or his or her designee, shall notify the sheriff of the county where the inmate will reside of the inmate's impending release. Notice shall be provided at least five days prior to the inmate's release, or if the release date is not known at least five days prior to release, notice shall be provided not later than the day after the inmate's release.
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