S-4354.1  _______________________________________________

                         SENATE BILL 6542

          _______________________________________________

State of Washington      54th Legislature     1996 Regular Session

By Senators Schow, Hargrove, Long and Oke

Read first time 01/17/96.  Referred to Committee on Human Services & Corrections.

Deterring the unwarranted or abusive use of the offender grievance process.

    AN ACT Relating to deterring the unwarranted or abusive use of the offender grievance process; and adding a new section to chapter 72.09 RCW.

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1.  A new section is added to chapter 72.09 RCW to read as follows:

    To discourage the unwarranted or abusive use of the offender grievance process, an offender shall be assessed a two-dollar fee for each grievance he or she files that is found by the department to be without merit, except that no fee shall be assessed for the first two grievances filed by an offender that are found to be without merit.  Fees assessed under this section shall be in addition to any other disciplinary action taken by the department in response to an offender's unwarranted or abusive use of the grievance process.  The fees may be deducted from an offender's institution account or, if the offender is indigent, recorded as a debt against the account and recouped as provided in RCW 72.09.450.

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