BILL REQ. #:  S-3625.1 

Read first time 01/19/2006.   Referred to Committee on Human Services & Corrections.

     AN ACT Relating to reporting requirements for criminal history record information; and amending RCW 43.43.700, 43.43.705, 43.43.715, 43.43.725, 43.43.730, 43.43.735, 43.43.740, and 43.43.810.

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

Sec. 1   RCW 43.43.700 and 1998 c 141 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:
     There is hereby established within the Washington state patrol a section on identification((, child abuse, vulnerable adult abuse,)) and criminal history hereafter referred to as the section.
     In order to aid the administration of justice the section shall install systems for the identification of individuals, including the fingerprint system and such other systems as the chief deems necessary. The section shall keep a complete record and index of all information received in convenient form for consultation and comparison.
     The section shall obtain from whatever source available and file for record the fingerprints, palmprints, photographs, or such other identification data as it deems necessary, of persons who have been or shall hereafter be lawfully arrested and charged with, or convicted of any criminal offense. The section may obtain like information concerning persons arrested for or convicted of crimes under the laws of another state or government.
     ((The section shall also contain like information concerning persons, over the age of eighteen years, who have been found to have physically abused or sexually abused or exploited a child pursuant to a dependency proceeding under chapter 13.34 RCW, or to have abused or financially exploited a vulnerable adult pursuant to a protection proceeding under chapter 74.34 RCW.))

Sec. 2   RCW 43.43.705 and 1999 c 151 s 1101 are each amended to read as follows:
     Upon the receipt of identification data from criminal justice agencies within this state, the section shall immediately cause the files to be examined and upon request shall promptly return to the contributor of such data a transcript of the record of previous arrests and dispositions of the persons described in the data submitted.
     Upon application, the section shall furnish to criminal justice agencies((, or to the department of social and health services, hereinafter referred to as the "department",)) a transcript of the criminal ((offender)) history record information((, dependency record information, or protection proceeding record information)) available pertaining to any person of whom the section has a record.
     For the purposes of RCW 43.43.700 through 43.43.785 the following words and phrases shall have the following meanings:
     "Criminal ((offender)) history record information" includes, and shall be restricted to identifying data and ((public record)) information recorded as the result of an arrest or other initiation of criminal proceedings and the consequent proceedings related thereto. "Criminal ((offender)) history record information" shall not include intelligence, analytical, or investigative reports and files.
     "Criminal justice agencies" are those public agencies within or outside the state which perform, as a principal function, activities directly relating to the apprehension, prosecution, adjudication or rehabilitation of criminal offenders.
     (("Dependency record information" includes and shall be restricted to identifying data regarding a person, over the age of eighteen, who was a party to a dependency proceeding brought under chapter 13.34 RCW and who has been found, pursuant to such dependency proceeding, to have sexually abused or exploited or physically abused a child.
     "Protection proceeding record information" includes and shall be restricted to identifying data regarding a person, over eighteen, who was a respondent to a protection proceeding brought under chapter 74.34 RCW and who has been found pursuant to such a proceeding to have abused or financially exploited a vulnerable adult.))
     The section may refuse to furnish any information pertaining to the identification or history of any person or persons of whom it has a record, or other information in its files and records, to any applicant if the chief determines that the applicant has previously misused information furnished to such applicant by the section or the chief believes that the applicant will not use the information requested solely for the purpose of due administration of the criminal laws or for the purposes enumerated in RCW 43.43.760(((3))) (4). The applicant may appeal such determination by notifying the chief in writing within thirty days. The hearing shall be before an administrative law judge appointed under chapter 34.12 RCW and in accordance with procedures for adjudicative proceedings under chapter 34.05 RCW.

Sec. 3   RCW 43.43.715 and 1989 c 334 s 8 are each amended to read as follows:
     The section shall, consistent with the procedures set forth in chapter 152, Laws of 1972 ex. sess., cooperate with all other criminal justice agencies((, and the department,)) within or without the state, in an exchange of information regarding convicted criminals and those suspected of or wanted for the commission of crimes((, and persons who are the subject of dependency record information or protection proceeding record information,)) to the end that proper identification may rapidly be made and the ends of justice served.

Sec. 4   RCW 43.43.725 and 1985 c 201 s 11 are each amended to read as follows:
     Any copy of a criminal ((offender)) history record, photograph, fingerprint, or other paper or document in the files of the section, ((including dependency record information,)) certified by the chief or his or her designee to be a true and complete copy of the original or of information on file with the section, shall be admissible in evidence in any court of this state pursuant to the provisions of RCW 5.44.040.

Sec. 5   RCW 43.43.730 and 1985 c 201 s 12 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) Any individual shall have the right to inspect criminal ((offender)) history record information((, or dependency record information,)) on file with the section which refers to ((him)) the individual. If ((an)) the individual believes such information to be inaccurate or incomplete, he or she may request the section to purge, modify or supplement it and to advise such persons or agencies who have received his or her record and whom the individual designates to modify it accordingly. Should the section decline to so act, or should the individual believe the section's decision to be otherwise unsatisfactory, the individual may appeal such decision to the superior court in the county in which he or she is resident, or the county from which the disputed record emanated or Thurston county. The court shall in such case conduct a de novo hearing, and may order such relief as it finds to be just and equitable.
     (2) The section may prescribe reasonable hours and a place for inspection, and may impose such additional restrictions, including fingerprinting, as are reasonably necessary both to assure the record's security and to verify the identities of those who seek to inspect them: PROVIDED, That the section may charge a reasonable fee for fingerprinting.

Sec. 6   RCW 43.43.735 and 1991 c 3 s 297 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) It shall be the duty of the sheriff or director of public safety of every county, and the chief of police of every city or town, and of every chief officer of other law enforcement agencies duly operating within this state, to cause the photographing and fingerprinting of all adults and juveniles lawfully arrested for the commission of any criminal offense constituting a felony or gross misdemeanor. (a) When such juveniles are brought directly to a juvenile detention facility, the juvenile court administrator is also authorized, but not required, to cause the photographing, fingerprinting, and record transmittal to the appropriate law enforcement agency; and (b) a further exception may be made when the arrest is for a violation punishable as a gross misdemeanor and the arrested person is not taken into custody.
     (2) It shall be the right, but not the duty, of the sheriff or director of public safety of every county, and the chief of police of every city or town, and every chief officer of other law enforcement agencies operating within this state to photograph and record the fingerprints of all adults lawfully arrested((, all persons who are the subject of dependency record information, or all persons who are the subject of protection proceeding record information)).
     (3) Such sheriffs, directors of public safety, chiefs of police, and other chief law enforcement officers, may record, in addition to photographs and fingerprints, the palmprints, soleprints, toeprints, or any other identification data of all persons whose photograph and fingerprints are required or allowed to be taken under this section((, all persons who are the subject of dependency record information, or all persons who are the subject of protection proceeding record information,)) when in the discretion of such law enforcement officers it is necessary for proper identification of the arrested person or the investigation of the crime with which he is charged.
     (((4) It shall be the duty of the department of health or the court having jurisdiction over the dependency action and protection proceedings under chapter 74.34 RCW to cause the fingerprinting of all persons who are the subject of a disciplinary board final decision, dependency record information, protection proceeding record information, or to obtain other necessary identifying information, as specified by the section in rules adopted under chapter 34.05 RCW to carry out the provisions of this subsection.
     (5) The court having jurisdiction over the dependency or protection proceeding action may obtain and record, in addition to fingerprints, the photographs, palmprints, soleprints, toeprints, or any other identification data of all persons who are the subject of dependency record information or protection proceeding record information, when in the discretion of the court it is necessary for proper identification of the person.))

Sec. 7   RCW 43.43.740 and 1989 c 334 s 10 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) It shall be the duty of the sheriff or director of public safety of every county, and the chief of police of every city or town, and of every chief officer of other law enforcement agencies duly operating within this state to furnish within seventy-two hours from the time of arrest to the section the required sets of fingerprints together with other identifying data as may be prescribed by the chief, of any person lawfully arrested, fingerprinted, and photographed pursuant to RCW 43.43.735.
     (2) Law enforcement agencies may retain and file copies of the fingerprints, photographs, and other identifying data and information obtained pursuant to RCW 43.43.735. Said records shall remain in the possession of the law enforcement agency as part of the identification record and are not returnable to the subjects thereof.
     (((3) It shall be the duty of the court having jurisdiction over the dependency action to furnish dependency record information, obtained pursuant to RCW 43.43.735, to the section within seven days, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays, from the date that the court enters a finding, pursuant to a dependency action brought under chapter 13.34 RCW, that a person over the age of eighteen, who is a party to the dependency action, has sexually abused or exploited or physically abused a child.
     (4) The court having jurisdiction over the dependency or protection proceeding action may retain and file copies of the fingerprints, photographs, and other identifying data and information obtained pursuant to RCW 43.43.735. These records shall remain in the possession of the court as part of the identification record and are not returnable to the subjects thereof.
     (5) It shall be the duty of a court having jurisdiction over the protection proceeding to furnish protection proceeding record information, obtained under RCW 43.43.735 to the section within seven days, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays, from the date that the court enters a final order pursuant to a protection proceeding brought under chapter 74.34 RCW, that a person over the age of eighteen, who is the respondent to the protection proceeding, has abused or financially exploited a vulnerable adult as that term is defined in RCW 43.43.830.
     (6) The section shall administer periodic compliance audits for the department of licensing and each court having jurisdiction over dependency and protection proceeding actions as defined in chapters 13.34 and 74.34 RCW, respectively. Such audits shall ensure that all dependency record information regarding persons over the age of eighteen years has been furnished to the section as required in subsection (3) of this section.))

Sec. 8   RCW 43.43.810 and 1977 ex.s. c 314 s 17 are each amended to read as follows:
     Any person who willfully requests, obtains or seeks to obtain criminal ((offender)) history record information under false pretenses, or who willfully communicates or seeks to communicate criminal ((offender)) history record information to any agency or person except in accordance with chapter 152, Laws of 1972 ex. sess., or any member, officer, employee or agent of the section, the council or any participating agency, who willfully falsifies criminal ((offender)) history record information, or any records relating thereto, shall for each such offense be guilty of a misdemeanor.