FINAL BILL REPORT

                 EHB 2350

                          C 67 L 98

                     Synopsis as Enacted

Brief Description:  Directing the Washington state crime information center to provide law enforcement agencies with access to sex offender central registry information.

Sponsors:  Representatives McDonald, Mulliken, Thompson, Dunn, Lambert, Mason and Sullivan.

House Committee on Criminal Justice & Corrections

Senate Committee on Human Services & Corrections

Background: Washington State Crime Information Center (WASIC).   The WASIC is located in the records division of the Washington State Patrol and functions under the direction of the chief of the Washington State Patrol.  The center serves to coordinate crime information, by means of data processing, for all law enforcement agencies throughout the entire state.

The WASIC provides access to the National Crime Information Center, to motor vehicle and driver license information and to such other public records as may be accessed by data processing and that are pertinent to law enforcement.  In addition, other files that can be found in the WASIC system include:  hot sheets (listing dangerous felons); a listing of people that are wanted for felony or misdemeanor crimes or have no-contact orders; inmates under Department of Corrections community corrections status; files listing stolen and wanted vehicles; outstanding warrants; identifying children who have been reported by their parents, custodians, or legal guardians as having run away from home; identifiable stolen property; and such other files as may be of general assistance to law enforcement agencies.

Sex Offender Central Registry.   The Washington State Patrol maintains a central registry of persons required to register as sex offenders.  A sex offender must register with the county sheriff within 24 hours of being released from confinement and within 10 days of changing his or her residential address.  A sex offender who moves to Washington from another state or a foreign country must register within 30 days of establishing residence.

The county sheriff forwards the collected information and fingerprints of each registered sex offender to the Washington State Patrol for entry into the Sex Offender Central Registry.  Although each individual county independently maintains records on the sex offenders within the county, there is not a state-wide system that allows a law enforcement officer to obtain quick information on a sex offender who may have traveled from outside of his or her home county.

The WASIC system and Sex Offender Central registry operate as two separate registries.

Summary:   The Washington State Patrol must include information relating to sex offenders in its WASIC system.  The merging of the WASIC system and the Sex Offender Central Registry must take place by June 30, 1999.

Votes on Final Passage:

House930

Senate470

Effective:June 30, 1998