BILL REQ. #:  H-2450.1 

Read first time 02/28/2007.   Referred to Committee on Judiciary.

     AN ACT Relating to mandating termination of a parent's rights to a biological or adopted child if the child is fifteen years of age or younger and is the victim of rape by the parent; amending RCW 13.34.200; reenacting and amending RCW 13.04.030; and adding a new section to chapter 13.34 RCW.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   A new section is added to chapter 13.34 RCW to read as follows:
     At the time of sentencing, the court shall enter an order terminating all parental rights to a child if:
     (1) The defendant is convicted under RCW 9A.44.040 of rape in the first degree, the victim was the defendant's biological or adopted child, and the victim was under sixteen years of age at the time the offense occurred;
     (2) The defendant is convicted under RCW 9A.44.073 of rape of a child in the first degree and the victim was the defendant's biological or adopted child;
     (3) The defendant is convicted under RCW 9A.44.076 of rape of a child in the second degree and the victim was the defendant's biological or adopted child; or
     (4) The defendant is convicted under RCW 9A.44.079 of rape of a child in the third degree and the victim was the defendant's biological or adopted child.

Sec. 2   RCW 13.34.200 and 2003 c 227 s 7 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) Upon the termination of parental rights pursuant to RCW 13.34.180 or section 1 of this act, all rights, powers, privileges, immunities, duties, and obligations, including any rights to custody, control, visitation, or support existing between the child and parent shall be severed and terminated and the parent shall have no standing to appear at any further legal proceedings concerning the child: PROVIDED, That any support obligation existing prior to the effective date of the order terminating parental rights shall not be severed or terminated. The rights of one parent may be terminated without affecting the rights of the other parent and the order shall so state.
     (2) An order terminating the parent and child relationship shall not disentitle a child to any benefit due the child from any third person, agency, state, or the United States, nor shall any action under this chapter be deemed to affect any rights and benefits that an Indian child derives from the child's descent from a member of a federally recognized Indian tribe.
     (3) An order terminating the parent-child relationship shall include a statement addressing the status of the child's sibling relationships and the nature and extent of sibling placement, contact, or visits.

Sec. 3   RCW 13.04.030 and 2005 c 290 s 1 and 2005 c 238 s 1 are each reenacted and amended to read as follows:
     (1) Except as provided in this section, the juvenile courts in this state shall have exclusive original jurisdiction over all proceedings:
     (a) Under the interstate compact on placement of children as provided in chapter 26.34 RCW;
     (b) Relating to children alleged or found to be dependent as provided in chapter 26.44 RCW and in RCW 13.34.030 through 13.34.170;
     (c) Relating to the termination of a parent and child relationship as provided in RCW 13.34.180 through 13.34.210, except when mandated under section 1 of this act;
     (d) To approve or disapprove out-of-home placement as provided in RCW 13.32A.170;
     (e) Relating to juveniles alleged or found to have committed offenses, traffic or civil infractions, or violations as provided in RCW 13.40.020 through 13.40.230, unless:
     (i) The juvenile court transfers jurisdiction of a particular juvenile to adult criminal court pursuant to RCW 13.40.110;
     (ii) The statute of limitations applicable to adult prosecution for the offense, traffic or civil infraction, or violation has expired;
     (iii) The alleged offense or infraction is a traffic, fish, boating, or game offense, or traffic or civil infraction committed by a juvenile sixteen years of age or older and would, if committed by an adult, be tried or heard in a court of limited jurisdiction, in which instance the appropriate court of limited jurisdiction shall have jurisdiction over the alleged offense or infraction, and no guardian ad litem is required in any such proceeding due to the juvenile's age: PROVIDED, That if such an alleged offense or infraction and an alleged offense or infraction subject to juvenile court jurisdiction arise out of the same event or incident, the juvenile court may have jurisdiction of both matters: PROVIDED FURTHER, That the jurisdiction under this subsection does not constitute "transfer" or a "decline" for purposes of RCW 13.40.110(1) or (e)(i) of this subsection: PROVIDED FURTHER, That courts of limited jurisdiction which confine juveniles for an alleged offense or infraction may place juveniles in juvenile detention facilities under an agreement with the officials responsible for the administration of the juvenile detention facility in RCW 13.04.035 and 13.20.060;
     (iv) The alleged offense is a traffic or civil infraction, a violation of compulsory school attendance provisions under chapter 28A.225 RCW, or a misdemeanor, and a court of limited jurisdiction has assumed concurrent jurisdiction over those offenses as provided in RCW 13.04.0301; or
     (v) The juvenile is sixteen or seventeen years old on the date the alleged offense is committed and the alleged offense is:
     (A) A serious violent offense as defined in RCW 9.94A.030;
     (B) A violent offense as defined in RCW 9.94A.030 and the juvenile has a criminal history consisting of: (I) One or more prior serious violent offenses; (II) two or more prior violent offenses; or (III) three or more of any combination of the following offenses: Any class A felony, any class B felony, vehicular assault, or manslaughter in the second degree, all of which must have been committed after the juvenile's thirteenth birthday and prosecuted separately;
     (C) Robbery in the first degree, rape of a child in the first degree, or drive-by shooting, committed on or after July 1, 1997;
     (D) Burglary in the first degree committed on or after July 1, 1997, and the juvenile has a criminal history consisting of one or more prior felony or misdemeanor offenses; or
     (E) Any violent offense as defined in RCW 9.94A.030 committed on or after July 1, 1997, and the juvenile is alleged to have been armed with a firearm.
     (I) In such a case the adult criminal court shall have exclusive original jurisdiction, except as provided in (e)(v)(E)(II) of this subsection.
     (II) The juvenile court shall have exclusive jurisdiction over the disposition of any remaining charges in any case in which the juvenile is found not guilty in the adult criminal court of the charge or charges for which he or she was transferred, or is convicted in the adult criminal court of a lesser included offense that is not also an offense listed in (e)(v) of this subsection. The juvenile court shall enter an order extending juvenile court jurisdiction if the juvenile has turned eighteen years of age during the adult criminal court proceedings pursuant to RCW 13.40.300. However, once the case is returned to juvenile court, the court may hold a decline hearing pursuant to RCW 13.40.110 to determine whether to retain the case in juvenile court for the purpose of disposition or return the case to adult criminal court for sentencing.
     If the juvenile challenges the state's determination of the juvenile's criminal history under (e)(v) of this subsection, the state may establish the offender's criminal history by a preponderance of the evidence. If the criminal history consists of adjudications entered upon a plea of guilty, the state shall not bear a burden of establishing the knowing and voluntariness of the plea;
     (f) Under the interstate compact on juveniles as provided in chapter 13.24 RCW;
     (g) Relating to termination of a diversion agreement under RCW 13.40.080, including a proceeding in which the divertee has attained eighteen years of age;
     (h) Relating to court validation of a voluntary consent to an out-of-home placement under chapter 13.34 RCW, by the parent or Indian custodian of an Indian child, except if the parent or Indian custodian and child are residents of or domiciled within the boundaries of a federally recognized Indian reservation over which the tribe exercises exclusive jurisdiction;
     (i) Relating to petitions to compel disclosure of information filed by the department of social and health services pursuant to RCW 74.13.042; and
     (j) Relating to judicial determinations and permanency planning hearings involving developmentally disabled children who have been placed in out-of-home care pursuant to a voluntary placement agreement between the child's parent, guardian, or legal custodian and the department of social and health services.
     (2) The family court shall have concurrent original jurisdiction with the juvenile court over all proceedings under this section if the superior court judges of a county authorize concurrent jurisdiction as provided in RCW 26.12.010.
     (3) The juvenile court shall have concurrent original jurisdiction with the family court over child custody proceedings under chapter 26.10 RCW as provided for in RCW 13.34.155.
     (4) A juvenile subject to adult superior court jurisdiction under subsection (1)(e)(i) through (v) of this section, who is detained pending trial, may be detained in a detention facility as defined in RCW 13.40.020 pending sentencing or a dismissal.