H-3667.1  _______________________________________________

                          HOUSE BILL 2612

          _______________________________________________

State of Washington      56th Legislature     2000 Regular Session

By Representatives McDonald, Constantine and Hurst

Read first time 01/18/2000.  Referred to Committee on Judiciary.

Clarifying when a defendant must appear.

    AN ACT Relating to clarifying when a defendant must appear; and amending RCW 46.61.50571.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

    Sec. 1.  RCW 46.61.50571 and 1999 c 114 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:

    (1) A defendant who is ((arrested for)) charged with an offense involving driving while under the influence as defined in RCW 46.61.502, driving under age twenty-one after consuming alcohol as defined in RCW 46.61.503, or being in physical control of a vehicle while under the influence as defined in RCW 46.61.504, shall be required to appear in person before a ((magistrate)) judicial officer within one judicial day after the arrest if the defendant is served with a citation or complaint at the time of the arrest.  A court may by local court rule waive the requirement for appearance within one judicial day if it provides for the appearance at the earliest practicable day following arrest and establishes the method for identifying that day in the rule.

    (2) A defendant who is charged ((by citation, complaint, or information)) with an offense involving driving while under the influence as defined in RCW 46.61.502, driving under age twenty-one after consuming alcohol as defined in RCW 46.61.503, or being in physical control of a vehicle while under the influence as defined in RCW 46.61.504, and who is not ((arrested)) served with a citation or complaint at the time of the incident, shall appear in court for arraignment in person as soon as practicable, but in no event later than fourteen days after the next day on which court is in session following the issuance of the citation or the filing of the complaint or information.

    (3) At the time of an appearance required by this section, the court shall determine the necessity of imposing conditions of pretrial release according to the procedures established by court rule for a preliminary appearance or an arraignment.

    (4) Appearances required by this section are mandatory and may not be waived.

                            --- END ---