BILL REQ. #:  S-1948.1 

Read first time 02/28/2005.   Referred to Committee on Judiciary.

     AN ACT Relating to tort liability of governmental entities; and adding a new section to chapter 4.24 RCW.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   A new section is added to chapter 4.24 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) It is the intent of the legislature that the public duty doctrine as a whole is a doctrine of law which has had its source in judicial precedent, and that the legislature does not intend to codify the doctrine in its entirety. However, the legislature intends to apply the doctrine specifically to those instances in which a department of state government, or a cognate function of local government, is alleged to be liable for its acts or omissions in the supervision of certain specified third parties.
     (2)(a) In any tort action filed against a governmental entity or its past or present public officials for conduct in a governmental capacity, no liability may be imposed unless the conduct breached a duty owed to the injured person as an individual, rather than to the public in general. Liability may only be imposed if the claim is based upon an act or failure to act to prevent or diminish harmful consequences of a condition or situation, whether created by acts or omissions intentional or negligent in character, including the violent or tortious conduct of a third person, and the plaintiff shows that the condition or situation was substantially caused by the governmental entity or any person acting on behalf of the governmental entity. This subsection applies only with regard to a governmental entity that has responsibility for a supervised person in the community charged with or convicted of a crime and not in physical custody or confinement.
     (b) For the purposes of this subsection, "supervised person" means anyone in or on community supervision, community custody, community placement, probation, pretrial supervision, or parole, including juvenile offenders under the jurisdiction of the juvenile rehabilitation administration of the department of social and health services or any successor organization, and anyone subject to a commitment order under chapter 10.77, 70.96A, 71.05, 71.09, or 71.34 RCW, and conditionally released or on a less restrictive alternative.