H-3498

AN ACT Relating to release of information about sex offenders and kidnapping offenders; 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 are authorized to release information to the public regarding sex offenders and kidnapping offenders when the agency determines that disclosure 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 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 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, 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 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 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 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.

(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.