FINAL BILL REPORT

                   SB 5772

                           C 53 L 99

                      Synopsis as Enacted

Brief Description:  Strengthening confidentiality for victims of domestic violence.

Sponsors:  Senators Gardner, T. Sheldon, Rasmussen, Swecker, Prentice, Costa, McCaslin, Wojahn, Spanel, Goings and Oke; by request of Secretary of State.

Senate Committee on State & Local Government

House Committee on State Government

Background:  Persons attempting to escape from actual or threatened domestic violence or sexual assault frequently establish new addresses in order to prevent their assailants or probable assailants from finding them. The Address Confidentiality Program (ACP) allows state and local agencies to respond to requests for public records without disclosing the location of a victim of domestic violence or sexual assault, to enable interagency cooperation with the Secretary of State in providing address confidentiality, and to enable state and local agencies to accept a program participant=s use of an address designated by the Secretary of State as a substitute mailing address.

The current law makes participant records public record if the participant is no longer in ACP.

Summary:  The Secretary of State may not make any records in a program participant=s file available for inspection or copying, other than the address designated by the Secretary of State, except under the following circumstances:  (1) if requested by a law enforcement agency, to the law enforcement agency; (2) if directed by a court order, to a person identified in the order; or (3) to verify the participation of a specific program participant, in which case the secretary may only confirm information supplied by the requester.

Votes on Final Passage:

Senate 43 0

House     90 0

Effective:  April 20, 1999