2316-S AMS HSC S5136.2
SHB 2316 - S COMM AMD
By Committee on Human Services & Corrections
Strike everything after the enacting clause and insert the following:
"Sec. 1. RCW 4.24.550 and 1997 c 364 s 1 and 1997 c 113 s 2 are each reenacted and amended to read as follows:
(1)
Public agencies are authorized to release information to the public regarding
sex offenders and kidnapping offenders when the agency determines that ((disclosure))
release of the information is relevant and necessary to protect the
public and counteract the danger created by the particular offender. This
authorization applies to information regarding: (a) Any person adjudicated or
convicted of a sex offense as defined in RCW ((9.94A.030)) 9A.44.130
or a kidnapping offense as defined in RCW 9A.44.130; (b) any person under
the jurisdiction of the indeterminate sentence review board as the result of a
sex offense or kidnapping offense; (c) any person committed as a
sexually violent predator under chapter 71.09 RCW or as a sexual psychopath
under chapter 71.06 RCW; (d) any person found not guilty of a sex offense or
kidnapping offense by reason of insanity under chapter 10.77 RCW; and (e)
any person found incompetent to stand trial for a sex offense or kidnapping
offense and subsequently committed under chapter 71.05 or 71.34 RCW.
(2)
The extent of the public ((disclosure)) release of relevant and
necessary information shall be rationally related to: (a) The level of risk
posed by the offender to the community; (b) the locations where the offender
resides, expects to reside, or is regularly found; and (c) the needs of the
affected community members for information to enhance their individual and
collective safety.
(3)
Local law enforcement agencies shall consider the following guidelines in
determining the extent of a public ((disclosure)) release of
information made under this section: (a) For offenders classified as risk
level I, the agency shall share information with other appropriate law
enforcement agencies and may ((disclose)) release, upon request,
relevant, necessary, and accurate information to any victim or witness to the
offense and to any individual community member who lives near the residence
where the offender resides, expects to reside, or is regularly found; (b) for
offenders classified as risk level II, the agency may also ((disclose)) release
relevant, necessary, and accurate information to public and private schools,
child day care centers, family day care providers, businesses and organizations
that serve primarily children, women, or vulnerable adults, and neighbors and
community groups near the residence where the offender resides, expects to
reside, or is regularly found; and (c) for offenders classified as risk level
III, the agency may also ((disclose)) release relevant,
necessary, and accurate information to the public at large.
(4)
Local law enforcement agencies that ((disseminate)) release
information pursuant to this section shall: (a) Review available risk level
classifications made by the department of corrections, the department of social
and health services, and the indeterminate sentence review board; (b) assign
risk level classifications to all sex offenders about whom information will be
((disseminated)) released; and (c) make a good faith effort to
notify the public and residents at least fourteen days before ((the)) a
sex offender or kidnapping offender is released from confinement or,
where an offender moves from another jurisdiction, as soon as possible after
the agency learns of the offender's move, except that in no case may this
notification provision be construed to require an extension of an offender's
release date.
(5)
An appointed or 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 risk level classification decisions or release of relevant and
necessary information, unless it is shown that the official, employee, or
agency acted with gross negligence or in bad faith. The immunity in this
section applies to risk level classification decisions and the release of relevant
and necessary information regarding any individual for whom ((disclosure))
release of information is authorized. The decision of a local law
enforcement agency or official to classify a sex offender to a risk level other
than the one assigned by the department of corrections, the department of
social and health services, or the indeterminate sentence review board, or the
release of any relevant and necessary information based on that different
classification shall not, by itself, be considered gross negligence or bad
faith. The immunity provided under this section applies to the release of
relevant and necessary information to other public officials, public employees,
or public agencies, and to the general public.
(6) Except as may otherwise be provided by law, nothing in this section shall impose any liability upon a public official, public employee, or public agency for failing to release information authorized under this section.
(7) Nothing in this section implies that information regarding persons designated in subsection (1) of this section is confidential except as may otherwise be provided by law. Nothing in this section shall relieve any public agency of the duty to disclose public records otherwise disclosable under chapter 42.17 RCW, chapter 10.97 RCW, or any other provision of law.
(8) When a local law enforcement agency or official classifies a sex offender differently than the offender is classified by the department of corrections, the department of social and health services, or the indeterminate sentence review board, the law enforcement agency or official shall notify the appropriate department or the board and submit its reasons supporting the change in classification.
Sec. 2. RCW 70.48.470 and 1997 c 364 s 3 and 1997 c 113 s 7 are each reenacted and 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 sex offense or
kidnapping offense as defined in RCW 9A.44.130 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 and, where applicable, the city)) following
information: (a) Name; (b) address; (c) date and place of birth; (d) place of
employment; (e) crime for which convicted; (f) date and place of conviction;
(g) aliases used; and (h) social security number.
(2) The chief law enforcement officer of the jail or his or her designee that has jurisdiction over the offender shall: (a) Provide notice to the offender of the duty to register; and (b) for sex offenders released on or after July 31, 1998, inform offenders of their classified sex offender risk level.
(3) When a sex offender or kidnapping offender under local government jurisdiction will reside in a county other than the county of conviction upon discharge or release, the chief law enforcement officer of the jail or his or her designee shall give notice of the inmate's discharge or release to the sheriff of the county and, where applicable, to the police chief of the city where the offender will reside.
Sec. 3. RCW 9A.44.135 and 1995 c 248 s 3 are each amended to read as follows:
When a sex offender registers with the county sheriff pursuant to RCW 9A.44.130, the county sheriff shall notify the chief law enforcement officer of the jurisdiction in which the offender has registered to live. The chief of police, sheriff, or town marshal shall make reasonable attempts to verify that the sex offender is residing at the registered address. Reasonable attempts at verifying an address shall include at a minimum sending certified mail, with return receipt requested, to the sex offender at the registered address, and if the return receipt is not signed by the sex offender, talking in person with the residents living at the address. The sheriff, chief of police, or town marshal shall make reasonable attempts to locate any sex offender who cannot be located at the registered address."
SHB 2316 - S COMM AMD
By Committee on Human Services & Corrections
On page 1, line 2 of the title, after "offenders;" strike the remainder of the title and insert "amending RCW 9A.44.135; and reenacting and amending RCW 4.24.550 and 70.48.470."
EFFECT: The amendment restores the original disclosure and release language with regard to level I & level II offenders. It strikes the provisions in the substitute relating to public disclosure statutes and replaces them with a clarifying provision in current subsection (7) that tells public agencies that nothing in this section relieves them of a duty to disclose what would otherwise be disclosable under other law.
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