BILL REQ. #:  H-2198.1 

READ FIRST TIME 02/23/09.   

     AN ACT Relating to drug court funding; and amending RCW 70.96A.350 and 2.28.170.

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

Sec. 1   RCW 70.96A.350 and 2008 c 329 s 918 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) The criminal justice treatment account is created in the state treasury. Moneys in the account may be expended solely for: (a) Substance abuse treatment and treatment support services for offenders with an addiction or a substance abuse problem that, if not treated, would result in addiction, against whom charges are filed by a prosecuting attorney in Washington state; (b) the provision of drug and alcohol treatment services and treatment support services for nonviolent offenders within a drug court program; ((and)) (c) the operation and administration of a drug court program; and (d) during the 2007-2009 biennium, operation of the integrated crisis response and intensive case management pilots contracted with the department of social and health services division of alcohol and substance abuse. Moneys in the account may be spent only after appropriation.
     (2) For purposes of this section:
     (a) "Treatment" means services that are critical to a participant's successful completion of his or her substance abuse treatment program, but does not include the following services: Housing other than that provided as part of an inpatient substance abuse treatment program, vocational training, and mental health counseling; and
     (b) "Treatment support" means transportation to or from inpatient or outpatient treatment services when no viable alternative exists, and child care services that are necessary to ensure a participant's ability to attend outpatient treatment sessions.
     (3) Revenues to the criminal justice treatment account consist of: (a) Funds transferred to the account pursuant to this section; and (b) any other revenues appropriated to or deposited in the account.
     (4)(a) For the fiscal biennium beginning July 1, 2003, the state treasurer shall transfer eight million nine hundred fifty thousand dollars from the general fund into the criminal justice treatment account, divided into eight equal quarterly payments. For the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2005, and each subsequent fiscal year, the state treasurer shall transfer eight million two hundred fifty thousand dollars from the general fund to the criminal justice treatment account, divided into four equal quarterly payments. For the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2006, and each subsequent fiscal year, the amount transferred shall be increased on an annual basis by the implicit price deflator as published by the federal bureau of labor statistics.
     (b) For the fiscal biennium beginning July 1, 2003, and each biennium thereafter, the state treasurer shall transfer two million nine hundred eighty-four thousand dollars from the general fund into the violence reduction and drug enforcement account, divided into eight quarterly payments. The amounts transferred pursuant to this subsection (4)(b) shall be used solely for providing drug and alcohol treatment services to offenders confined in a state correctional facility who are assessed with an addiction or a substance abuse problem that if not treated would result in addiction.
     (c) In each odd-numbered year, the legislature shall appropriate the amount transferred to the criminal justice treatment account in (a) of this subsection to the division of alcohol and substance abuse for the purposes of subsection (5) of this section.
     (5) Moneys appropriated to the division of alcohol and substance abuse from the criminal justice treatment account shall be distributed as specified in this subsection. The department shall serve as the fiscal agent for purposes of distribution. Until July 1, 2004, the department may not use moneys appropriated from the criminal justice treatment account for administrative expenses and shall distribute all amounts appropriated under subsection (4)(c) of this section in accordance with this subsection. Beginning in July 1, 2004, the department may retain up to three percent of the amount appropriated under subsection (4)(c) of this section for its administrative costs.
     (a) Seventy percent of amounts appropriated to the division from the account shall be distributed to counties pursuant to the distribution formula adopted under this section. The division of alcohol and substance abuse, in consultation with the department of corrections, the sentencing guidelines commission, the Washington state association of counties, the Washington state association of drug court professionals, the superior court judges' association, the Washington association of prosecuting attorneys, representatives of the criminal defense bar, representatives of substance abuse treatment providers, and any other person deemed by the division to be necessary, shall establish a fair and reasonable methodology for distribution to counties of moneys in the criminal justice treatment account. County or regional plans submitted for the expenditure of formula funds must be approved by the panel established in (b) of this subsection.
     (b) Thirty percent of the amounts appropriated to the division from the account shall be distributed as grants for purposes of treating offenders against whom charges are filed by a county prosecuting attorney. The division shall appoint a panel of representatives from the Washington association of prosecuting attorneys, the Washington association of sheriffs and police chiefs, the superior court judges' association, the Washington state association of counties, the Washington defender's association or the Washington association of criminal defense lawyers, the department of corrections, the Washington state association of drug court professionals, substance abuse treatment providers, and the division. The panel shall review county or regional plans for funding under (a) of this subsection and grants approved under this subsection. The panel shall attempt to ensure that treatment as funded by the grants is available to offenders statewide.
     (6) The county alcohol and drug coordinator, county prosecutor, county sheriff, county superior court, a substance abuse treatment provider appointed by the county legislative authority, a member of the criminal defense bar appointed by the county legislative authority, and, in counties with a drug court, a representative of the drug court shall jointly submit a plan, approved by the county legislative authority or authorities, to the panel established in subsection (5)(b) of this section, for disposition of all the funds provided from the criminal justice treatment account within that county. The funds shall be used solely to provide approved alcohol and substance abuse treatment pursuant to RCW 70.96A.090, to support the operation and administration of a drug court program, and to provide treatment support services.
     (a) No more than ten percent of the total moneys received under subsections (4) and (5) of this section by a county or group of counties participating in a regional agreement shall be spent to support the operation and administration of a drug court program.
     (b) No more than ten percent of the total moneys received under subsections (4) and (5) of this section by a county or group of counties participating in a regional agreement shall be spent for treatment support services.
     (7) Counties are encouraged to consider regional agreements and submit regional plans for the efficient delivery of treatment under this section.
     (8) Moneys allocated under this section shall be used to supplement, not supplant, other federal, state, and local funds used for substance abuse treatment.
     (9) Counties must meet the criteria established in RCW 2.28.170(3)(b).
     (10) The authority under this section to use funds from the criminal justice treatment account for the operation and administration of drug court programs expires June 30, 2013.

Sec. 2   RCW 2.28.170 and 2006 c 339 s 106 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) Counties may establish and operate drug courts.
     (2) For the purposes of this section, "drug court" means a court that has special calendars or dockets designed to achieve a reduction in recidivism and substance abuse among nonviolent, substance abusing felony and nonfelony offenders, whether adult or juvenile, by increasing their likelihood for successful rehabilitation through early, continuous, and intense judicially supervised treatment; mandatory periodic drug testing; and the use of appropriate sanctions and other rehabilitation services.
     (3)(a) Any jurisdiction that seeks a state appropriation to fund a drug court program must first:
     (i) Exhaust all federal funding that is available to support the operations of its drug court and associated services; and
     (ii) Match, on a dollar-for-dollar basis, state moneys allocated for drug court programs with local cash or in-kind resources. Moneys allocated by the state must be used to supplement, not supplant, other federal, state, and local funds for drug court operations and associated services. However, from the effective date of this act until June 30, 2013, no match is required for state moneys expended for the operation and administration of the drug courts pursuant to RCW 70.96A.350.
     (b) Any county that establishes a drug court pursuant to this section shall establish minimum requirements for the participation of offenders in the program. The drug court may adopt local requirements that are more stringent than the minimum. The minimum requirements are:
     (i) The offender would benefit from substance abuse treatment;
     (ii) The offender has not previously been convicted of a serious violent offense or sex offense as defined in RCW 9.94A.030; and
     (iii) Without regard to whether proof of any of these elements is required to convict, the offender is not currently charged with or convicted of an offense:
     (A) That is a sex offense;
     (B) That is a serious violent offense;
     (C) During which the defendant used a firearm; or
     (D) During which the defendant caused substantial or great bodily harm or death to another person.