3SHB 3900 - H AMD 247 WITHDRAWN 3-17-97

By Representative Radcliff

On page 102, after line 21, insert the following:

"Sec. 36. RCW 72.01.410 and 1994 c 220 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) Whenever any child under the age of eighteen is convicted in the courts of this state of a crime amounting to a felony, and is committed for a term of confinement in a correctional institution wherein adults are confined, the secretary of corrections, after making an independent assessment and evaluation of the child and determining that the needs and correctional goals for the child could better be met by the programs and housing environment provided by the juvenile correctional institution, with the consent of the secretary of social and health services, may transfer such child to a juvenile correctional institution, or to such other institution as is now, or may hereafter be authorized by law to receive such child, until such time as the child arrives at the age of twenty-one years, whereupon the child shall be returned to the institution of original commitment. Retention within a juvenile detention facility or return to an adult correctional facility shall regularly be reviewed by the secretary of corrections and the secretary of social and health services with a determination made based on the level of maturity and sophistication of the individual, the behavior and progress while within the juvenile detention facility, security needs, and the program/treatment alternatives which would best prepare the individual for a successful return to the community. Notice of such transfers shall be given to the clerk of the committing court and the parents, guardian, or next of kin of such child, if known. (2) An offender under the age of eighteen who is convicted in adult criminal court and who is committed to a term of confinement at the department of corrections must be placed in a housing unit separated from adult inmates until the offender reaches the age of eighteen.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 37. A new section is added to chapter 72.01 RCW to read as follows:

(1) An offender under the age of eighteen who is convicted in adult criminal court of a crime and who is committed for a term of confinement in a jail as defined in RCW 70.48.020, must be housed in a jail unit completely separated from contact with adult offenders incarcerated in the jail, until the offender reaches the age of eighteen.

(2) If a court finds that the local jail is unable to comply with the requirements of subsection (1) of this section, the court shall commit the offender to the department of social and health services to be housed in a state juvenile facility operated by the juvenile rehabilitation administration until the offender reaches the age of eighteen.

(3) The office of financial management shall calculate the cost that the local jurisdiction would have incurred to house a transferred offender at the local jail facility. The local jurisdiction shall bear that portion of the cost of committing the offender to the state institution.

(4) An offender under the age of eighteen who is convicted in adult criminal court and who is transferred to the department of social and health services under subsection (2) of this section must be placed in a housing unit separated from juvenile offenders committed to the department of social and health services."

Renumber the remaining sections consecutively, correct internal references accordingly, and correct the title.

EFFECT: An offender under the age of 18 who is convicted in adult criminal court and sentenced to a period of confinement in either prison or jail must be housed in a separate housing unit from the adult inmate population. If the court finds that the local jurisdiction is not able to house the offender in a jail unit separated from adults, the court shall commit the offender to a state juvenile facility operated by the Department of Social and Health Services until the offender reaches the age of 18. The local jurisdiction must pay for a portion of the cost of commitment to the state juvenile facility in the amount the local jurisdiction would have incurred to house the offender at the local jail. An offender convicted in adult court and transferred to a state juvenile facility must be placed in a housing unit separated from juvenile offenders committed to the juvenile facility.