BILL REQ. #:  S-4111.1 

READ FIRST TIME 01/27/10.   

     AN ACT Relating to membership of the Washington state forensic investigations council; and amending RCW 43.103.040.

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

Sec. 1   RCW 43.103.040 and 1995 c 398 s 5 are each amended to read as follows:
     The council shall consist of ((twelve)) fourteen members who shall be selected as follows: One county coroner; one county prosecutor; one county prosecutor who also serves as ex officio county coroner; one county medical examiner; one county sheriff; one chief of police; the chief of the state patrol; two members of a county legislative authority; one pathologist who is currently in private practice; ((and)) two members of a city legislative authority; one attorney whose practice of law includes significant experience representing clients charged with criminal offenses; and one scientist with experience in the areas of laboratory standards or quality assurance regulation and monitoring who is a faculty member at a state university, regional university, state college, or a nonprofit college or university that has maintained its primary location in the state of Washington for a minimum of twenty-five consecutive years and has an enrollment of at least five hundred students.
     The governor shall appoint members to the council from among the nominees submitted for each position as follows: The Washington association of county officials shall submit two nominees each for the coroner position and the medical examiner position; the Washington state association of counties shall submit two nominees each for the two county legislative authority positions; the association of Washington cities shall submit two nominees each for the two city legislative authority positions; the Washington association of prosecuting attorneys shall submit two nominees each for the county prosecutor-ex officio county coroner and for the county prosecutor position; the Washington association of sheriffs and police chiefs shall submit two nominees each for the county sheriff position and the chief of police position; ((and)) the Washington association of pathologists shall submit two nominees for the private pathologist position; the Washington association of criminal defense lawyers and the Washington defender association shall jointly submit two nominees for the criminal defense attorney position, one of whom must actively manage or have significant experience in managing a public or private criminal defense agency or association, the other must have experience in cases involving DNA or other forensic evidence; and the president of a state university, regional university, state college, or a nonprofit college or university that has maintained its primary location in the state of Washington for a minimum of twenty-five consecutive years and has an enrollment of at least five hundred students may each forward to the governor a nomination of a full-time member of the faculty at the university or college at which the president serves, for consideration as a member of the council. No president shall be required to submit a nomination and the governor shall not be restricted to appointing a member of the council from among individuals nominated by a president.