BILL REQ. #:  H-0666.1 

Read first time 02/11/09.   Referred to Committee on Judiciary.

     AN ACT Relating to safe house program requirements; and adding a new section to chapter 10.97 RCW.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   A new section is added to chapter 10.97 RCW to read as follows:
     Local community safe house programs that serve as a refuge for children under sixteen years of age shall require fingerprinting and national criminal history background checks on any person wanting to use his or her residence as a safe house. Any person wanting to use his or her residence as a safe house must reside in the house while a child under sixteen years of age is residing there as a refuge.
     (1) Any person over the age of twelve residing in the applicant's residence shall provide fingerprints for the national criminal history background check. Children under sixteen years of age seeking refuge in a safe house shall not be considered a resident of the safe house for purposes of providing fingerprints for the national criminal history background check.
     (2) In addition to any national criminal history background checks, the state patrol shall furnish any other files found in the Washington state crime information center and any local or statewide transcript of convictions records pertaining to any person for whom the state patrol or federal bureau of investigation has a record upon the written request of a local community safe house program. All national criminal history background checks shall be conducted using fingerprints submitted to the United States department of justice federal bureau of investigation.
     (3) No fee shall be charged to a local community safe house program for any state or federal records requested in subsection (2) of this section. The state patrol shall be responsible for any costs incurred due to providing a national criminal history background check, a Washington state crime information center record, and any local or statewide transcript of convictions records to a local community safe house program.
     (4) State and local governments shall be immune from any civil liability in actions arising under this section.