| Washington State House of Representatives Office of Program Research |
BILL ANALYSIS |
| Public Safety & Emergency Preparedness Committee | |
HB 2714
This analysis was prepared by non-partisan legislative staff for the use of legislative members in
their deliberations. This analysis is not a part of the legislation nor does it constitute a
statement of legislative intent.
Brief Description: Changing provisions concerning registration of sex offenders and kidnapping offenders.
Sponsors: Representatives Loomis, Hurst, Lantz, Upthegrove, Conway, Simpson, VanDeWege and Kelley.
Brief Summary of Bill |
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Hearing Date: 1/23/08
Staff: Jim Morishima (786-7191).
Background:
Failure to Register as a Sex Offender
Under the Community Protection Act of 1990, a sex offender must register with the county
sheriff of the county in which he or she resides. An offender must provide a variety of
information upon registration including name, complete residential address, date and place of
birth, place of employment, crime of conviction, date and place of conviction, aliases, Social
Security number, photograph, and fingerprints.
Registered sex offenders are subject to a variety of requirements after registration. For example,
if an offender must notify the county sheriff if he or she moves or changes any of the information
in the registry. Also, homeless offenders must check in with the county sheriff once a week.
Level II and level III sex offenders must check in with the county sheriff every 90 days.
A sex offender who knowingly violates the requirements of the registration statute is guilty of a
class C felony if the offense that caused the duty to register was a felony. The offense is
"unranked" on the first offense, which means the offender would be subject to a term of
confinement within the standard range of zero to12 months. A first-time offender is also subject
to a mandatory term of community custody (supervision in the community) of 36-48 months.
For second and subsequent offenses, the offense is ranked at seriousness level II, which means
the offender, assuming he or she has no other prior offenses, would be subject to a term of
confinement of 12-14 months. The offender would also be subject to a mandatory term of
community custody of 36-48 months.
A sex offender who knowingly violates the requirements of the registration statute is guilty of a
gross misdemeanor if the offense that caused the duty to register was not a felony.
Classes of Felonies
In Washington, felonies are divided into three classes: A, B, and C. The class of felony
determines the statutory maximum for the offense; the term of confinement plus any term of
community custody may not exceed this maximum. In addition, the class of felony determines
the maximum amount an offender may be fined. The maximums for the different classes of
felonies are as follows:
Summary of Bill:
The penalty for felony-level Failure to Register as a Sex Offender is increased from a class C
felony to a class B felony.
Appropriation: None.
Fiscal Note: Requested on January 16, 2008.
Effective Date: The bill takes effect 90 days after adjournment of session in which bill is
passed.