S-1436.5          _______________________________________________

                            SUBSTITUTE SENATE BILL 5588

                  _______________________________________________

State of Washington              54th Legislature             1995 Regular Session

By Senate Committee on Law & Justice (originally sponsored by Senators C. Anderson, Smith, Long, Prince, Haugen and Schow)

Read first time 02/16/95.

Clarifying protection of private communications.

     AN ACT Relating to private communications; and reenacting and amending RCW 9.73.030.

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

     Sec. 1.  RCW 9.73.030 and 1986 c 38 s 1 and 1985 c 260 s 2 are each reenacted and amended to read as follows:

     (1) Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, it shall be unlawful for any individual, partnership, corporation, association, or the state of Washington, its agencies, and political subdivisions to intercept((,)) or record any:

     (a) Private communication transmitted by telephone, telegraph, radio, or other device between two or more individuals between points within or without the state by any device electronic or otherwise designed to intercept, record ((and/or)), or transmit said communication regardless how such device is powered or actuated, without first obtaining the consent of all the participants in the communication;

     (b) Private conversation, by any device electronic or otherwise designed to intercept, record, or transmit such conversation regardless how the device is powered or actuated without first obtaining the consent of all the persons engaged in the conversation.

     (2) Notwithstanding subsection (1) of this section, wire or electronic communications or conversations (a) of an emergency nature, such as the reporting of a fire, medical emergency, crime, or disaster, or (b) which convey threats of extortion, blackmail, bodily harm, or other unlawful requests or demands, or (c) which occur anonymously or repeatedly or at an extremely inconvenient hour, or (d) which relate to communications by a hostage holder or barricaded person as defined in RCW 70.85.100, whether or not conversation ensues, may be recorded with the consent of one party to the conversation.

     (3) Where consent by all parties is needed pursuant to this chapter, consent shall be considered obtained whenever one party has announced to all other parties engaged in the communication or conversation, in any reasonably effective manner, that such communication or conversation is about to be intercepted, recorded, or transmitted:  PROVIDED, That if the conversation is to be recorded ((that said)), the announcement shall also be recorded.

     (4) An employee of any regularly published newspaper, magazine, wire service, radio station, or television station acting in the course of bona fide news gathering duties on a full-time or contractual or part-time basis, shall be deemed to have consent to record and divulge communications or conversations otherwise prohibited by this chapter if the consent is expressly given or if the recording or transmitting device is readily apparent or obvious to the speakers.  Withdrawal of the consent after the communication has been made shall not prohibit any such employee of a newspaper, magazine, wire service, or radio or television station from divulging the communication or conversation.

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