BILL REQ. #:  H-3629.2 

Prefiled 1/3/2006. Read first time 01/09/2006.   Referred to Committee on Criminal Justice & Corrections.

     AN ACT Relating to requiring the department of corrections to electronically monitor, using a global positioning system, offenders who are level three or lack a fixed residence, committed their offenses against minors, and are serving a term of community custody; adding a new section to chapter 72.09 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 4.24 RCW; and providing an effective date.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   A new section is added to chapter 72.09 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) The department shall, in consultation with the Washington association of sheriffs and police chiefs, conduct a pilot project to evaluate the effectiveness and cost of electronically monitoring sex offenders using an active global positioning system. The department shall electronically monitor, using an active global positioning system or similar system that is designed to actively monitor, identify, and timely report a person's location, all offenders who:
     (a) Are serving a term of community custody on or after the effective date of this act;
     (b) Are required to register under RCW 9A.44.130 pursuant to a conviction for a sex offense committed against a victim under the age of eighteen; and
     (c) Have been designated as risk level three or have registered as lacking a fixed residence.
     (2) By December 1, 2007, the department must report to the governor and the appropriate committees of the legislature the results of the pilot project. The report shall include the following information:
     (a) The availability of active global positioning system technology, including a description of the system used and the alternatives that are available and appropriate for monitoring sex offenders;
     (b) The limitations and reliability of the technology, including geographic or weather-based limitations and the rate of false alarms;
     (c) Any training that is required for department staff or persons subject to monitoring;
     (d) The advisability and feasibility of expanding the monitoring requirement to other populations of sex offenders, including a description of the populations that should be monitored, if any;
     (e) The costs of the monitoring, including equipment costs, monitoring fees, and any changes to department staffing levels;
     (f) The ability of monitored persons to pay for the costs of the monitoring;
     (g) The rate of loss or damage of monitoring equipment, and the reasons the equipment was lost or damaged; and
     (h) Any other information the department deems appropriate.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   A new section is added to chapter 4.24 RCW to read as follows:
     The department and any employee of the department acting within the scope of his or her employment are immune from civil liability resulting from acts or omissions relating to information gathered on offenders using an active global positioning system under section 1 of this act, unless the department or the employee acted with gross negligence or in bad faith.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   This act takes effect July 1, 2006.