H-4679.1 _______________________________________________
SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL 2316
_______________________________________________
State of Washington 55th Legislature 1998 Regular Session
By House Committee on Criminal Justice & Corrections (originally sponsored by Representatives Ballasiotes, Scott, Sheahan and McDonald)
Read first time 01/28/98. Referred to Committee on .
AN ACT Relating to release of information about sex offenders and kidnapping offenders; amending RCW 9A.44.135; and reenacting and amending RCW 4.24.550 and 70.48.470.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
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 shall disclose information to the public regarding sex
offenders and kidnappers when the agency receives a public records request
pursuant to chapter 42.17 RCW. Public agencies are authorized to ((release))
disseminate information to the public regarding sex offenders and
kidnapping offenders when the agency determines that ((disclosure)) dissemination
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)) dissemination 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)) dissemination
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, upon request,)) disseminate 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)) disseminate
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)) disseminate relevant,
necessary, and accurate information to the public at large.
(4)
Local law enforcement agencies that disseminate 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; 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))
dissemination 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)) disseminate information authorized
under this section.
(7) Information regarding persons designated in subsection (1) of this section is a public record that is disclosable pursuant to chapter 42.17 RCW.
(8) 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.
(((8)))
(9) 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.
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