BILL REQ. #:  H-4554.1 

Read first time 01/25/2006.   Referred to Committee on Criminal Justice & Corrections.

     AN ACT Relating to the authority to apprehend conditionally released persons; and amending RCW 71.09.098.

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

Sec. 1   RCW 71.09.098 and 2001 c 286 s 13 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) Any service provider submitting reports pursuant to RCW 71.09.096(6), the supervising community corrections officer, the prosecuting attorney, or the attorney general may petition the court, or the court on its own motion may schedule an immediate hearing, for the purpose of revoking or modifying the terms of the person's conditional release to a less restrictive alternative if the petitioner or the court believes the released person is not complying with the terms and conditions of his or her release or is in need of additional care, monitoring, supervision, or treatment.
     (2) If the prosecuting attorney, the supervising community corrections officer, or the court, based upon information received by them, reasonably believes that a conditionally released person is not complying with the terms and conditions of his or her conditional release to a less restrictive alternative, the court or community corrections officer may order that the conditionally released person be apprehended and taken into custody until such time as a hearing can be scheduled to determine the facts and whether or not the person's conditional release should be revoked or modified. A law enforcement officer, who has responded to a request for assistance from a department employee, may apprehend and take into custody the conditionally released person if the law enforcement officer reasonably believes that the conditionally released person is not complying with the terms and conditions of his or her conditional release to a less restrictive alternative. The conditionally released person may be detained in the county jail or returned to the secure community transition facility. The court shall be notified before the close of the next judicial day of the person's apprehension. Both the prosecuting attorney and the conditionally released person shall have the right to request an immediate mental examination of the conditionally released person. If the conditionally released person is indigent, the court shall, upon request, assist him or her in obtaining a qualified expert or professional person to conduct the examination.
     (3) The court, upon receiving notification of the person's apprehension, shall promptly schedule a hearing. The issue to be determined is whether the state has proven by a preponderance of the evidence that the conditionally released person did not comply with the terms and conditions of his or her release. Hearsay evidence is admissible if the court finds it otherwise reliable. At the hearing, the court shall determine whether the person shall continue to be conditionally released on the same or modified conditions or whether his or her conditional release shall be revoked and he or she shall be committed to total confinement, subject to release only in accordance with provisions of this chapter.