READ FIRST TIME 02/23/09.   

     AN ACT Relating to parenting plans and residential schedules in dependency proceedings; amending RCW 13.34.155; and reenacting and amending RCW 13.04.030.

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

Sec. 1   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)) 13.34.161;
     (c) Relating to the termination of a parent and child relationship as provided in RCW 13.34.180 through 13.34.210;
     (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 and parenting plans or residential schedules under chapters 26.09 and 26.26 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.

Sec. 2   RCW 13.34.155 and 2000 c 135 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) The court hearing the dependency petition may hear and determine issues related to chapter 26.10 RCW in a dependency proceeding as necessary to facilitate a permanency plan for the child or children as part of the dependency disposition order or a dependency review order or as otherwise necessary to implement a permanency plan of care for a child. The parents, guardians, or legal custodian of the child must agree, subject to court approval, to establish a permanent custody order. This agreed order may have the concurrence of the other parties to the dependency including the supervising agency, the guardian ad litem of the child, and the child if age twelve or older, and must also be in the best interests of the child. If the petitioner for a custody order under chapter 26.10 RCW is not a party to the dependency proceeding, he or she must agree on the record or by the filing of a declaration to the entry of a custody order. Once an order is entered under chapter 26.10 RCW, and the dependency petition dismissed, the department shall not continue to supervise the placement.
     (2)(a) The court hearing the dependency petition may establish or modify a parenting plan under chapter 26.09 or 26.26 RCW as part of a disposition order or at a review hearing when doing so will implement a permanent plan of care for the child and result in dismissal of the dependency.
     (b) The dependency court shall adhere to procedural requirements under chapter 26.09 RCW and must make a written finding that the parenting plan established or modified by the dependency court under this section is in the child's best interests.
     (c) Unless the whereabouts of one of the parents is unknown to either the department or the court, the parents must agree, subject to court approval, to establish the parenting plan or modify an existing parenting plan.
     (d) Whenever the court is asked to establish or modify a parenting plan, the child's residential schedule, the allocation of decision-making authority, and dispute resolution under this section, the dependency court may:
     (i) Appoint a guardian ad litem to represent the interests of the child when the court believes the appointment is necessary to protect the best interests of the child; and
     (ii) Appoint an attorney to represent the interests of the child with respect to provisions for the parenting plan.
     (e) The dependency court must make a written finding that the parenting plan established or modified by the dependency court under this section is in the child's best interests.
     (f) The dependency court may interview the child in chambers to ascertain the child's wishes as to the child's residential schedule in a proceeding for the entry or modification of a parenting plan under this section. The court may permit counsel to be present at the interview. The court shall cause a record of the interview to be made and to become part of the court record of the dependency case and the case under chapter 26.09 or 26.26 RCW.
     (g) In the absence of agreement by a parent, guardian, or legal custodian of the child to allow the juvenile court to hear and determine issues related to the establishment or modification of a parenting plan under chapter 26.09 or 26.26 RCW, a party may move the court to transfer such issues to the family law department of the superior court for further resolution. The court may only grant the motion upon entry of a written finding that it is in the best interests of the child.
     (h) In any parenting plan agreed to by the parents and entered or modified in juvenile court under this section, all issues pertaining to child support and the division of marital property shall be referred to or retained by the family law department of the superior court.
     (3) Any court order determining issues under chapter 26.10 RCW is subject to modification upon the same showing and standards as a court order determining Title 26 RCW issues.
     (((3))) (4) Any order entered in the dependency court establishing or modifying a permanent legal custody order or, parenting plan, or residential schedule under chapters 26.09, 26.10, and 26.26 RCW shall also be filed in the chapter 26.09, 26.10, and 26.26 RCW action by the moving or prevailing party. If the petitioning or moving party has been found indigent and appointed counsel at public expense in the dependency proceeding, no filing fees shall be imposed by the clerk. Once filed, any order, parenting plan, or residential schedule establishing or modifying permanent legal custody of a child shall survive dismissal of the dependency proceeding.