BILL REQ. #:  H-0991.1 

Read first time 01/30/2003.   Referred to Committee on Juvenile Justice & Family Law.

     AN ACT Relating to enhancing necessary child support payments; amending RCW 72.09.111; and creating a new section.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   The legislature finds that there is an urgent need for vigorous enforcement of child support obligations. The legislature further finds that the duty of child support to provide for the needs of dependent children, including their necessary food, clothing, shelter, education, and health care, should not be avoided because of where an obligor resides. A person owing a duty of child support who chooses to engage in behaviors that result in the person becoming incarcerated should not be able to avoid child support obligations.

Sec. 2   RCW 72.09.111 and 2002 c 126 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) The secretary shall deduct from the gross wages or gratuities of each inmate working in correctional industries work programs, taxes, child support payments, and legal financial obligations. The secretary shall develop a formula for the distribution of offender wages and gratuities.
     (a) The formula shall include the following minimum deductions from class I gross wages and from all others earning at least minimum wage:
     (i) Five percent to the public safety and education account for the purpose of crime victims' compensation;
     (ii) Ten percent to a department personal inmate savings account;
     (iii) Twenty percent to the department to contribute to the cost of incarceration; and
     (iv) Twenty percent for payment of legal financial obligations and child support payments for all inmates who have ((legal financial)) such obligations owing in any Washington state ((superior)) court.
     (b) The formula shall include the following minimum deductions from class II gross gratuities:
     (i) Five percent to the public safety and education account for the purpose of crime victims' compensation;
     (ii) Ten percent to a department personal inmate savings account;
     (iii) Fifteen percent to the department to contribute to the cost of incarceration; and
     (iv) Twenty percent for payment of legal financial obligations and child support payments for all inmates who have ((legal financial)) such obligations owing in any Washington state ((superior)) court.
     (c) The formula shall include the following minimum deduction from class IV gross gratuities: Five percent to the department to contribute to the cost of incarceration.
     (d) The formula shall include the following minimum deductions from class III gratuities: Five percent for the purpose of crime victims' compensation.
     Any person sentenced to life imprisonment without possibility of release or parole under chapter 10.95 RCW or sentenced to death shall be exempt from the requirement under (a)(ii) or (b)(ii) of this subsection.
     The department personal inmate savings account, together with any accrued interest, shall only be available to an inmate at the time of his or her release from confinement, unless the secretary determines that an emergency exists for the inmate, at which time the funds can be made available to the inmate in an amount determined by the secretary. The management of classes I, II, and IV correctional industries may establish an incentive payment for offender workers based on productivity criteria. This incentive shall be paid separately from the hourly wage/gratuity rate and shall not be subject to the specified deduction for cost of incarceration.
     In the event that the offender worker's wages or gratuity is subject to garnishment for support enforcement, the crime victims' compensation, savings, and cost of incarceration deductions shall be calculated on the net wages after taxes, legal financial obligations, and garnishment.
     (2) The department shall explore other methods of recovering a portion of the cost of the inmate's incarceration and for encouraging participation in work programs, including development of incentive programs that offer inmates benefits and amenities paid for only from wages earned while working in a correctional industries work program.
     (3) The department shall develop the necessary administrative structure to recover inmates' wages and keep records of the amount inmates pay for the costs of incarceration and amenities. All funds deducted from inmate wages under subsection (1) of this section for the purpose of contributions to the cost of incarceration shall be deposited in a dedicated fund with the department and shall be used only for the purpose of enhancing and maintaining correctional industries work programs.
     (4) The expansion of inmate employment in class I and class II correctional industries shall be implemented according to the following schedule:
     (a) Not later than June 30, 1995, the secretary shall achieve a net increase of at least two hundred in the number of inmates employed in class I or class II correctional industries work programs above the number so employed on June 30, 1994;
     (b) Not later than June 30, 1996, the secretary shall achieve a net increase of at least four hundred in the number of inmates employed in class I or class II correctional industries work programs above the number so employed on June 30, 1994;
     (c) Not later than June 30, 1997, the secretary shall achieve a net increase of at least six hundred in the number of inmates employed in class I or class II correctional industries work programs above the number so employed on June 30, 1994;
     (d) Not later than June 30, 1998, the secretary shall achieve a net increase of at least nine hundred in the number of inmates employed in class I or class II correctional industries work programs above the number so employed on June 30, 1994;
     (e) Not later than June 30, 1999, the secretary shall achieve a net increase of at least one thousand two hundred in the number of inmates employed in class I or class II correctional industries work programs above the number so employed on June 30, 1994;
     (f) Not later than June 30, 2000, the secretary shall achieve a net increase of at least one thousand five hundred in the number of inmates employed in class I or class II correctional industries work programs above the number so employed on June 30, 1994.
     (5) It shall be in the discretion of the secretary to apportion the inmates between class I and class II depending on available contracts and resources.