BILL REQ. #:  Z-0621.3 

Read first time 01/28/14.   Referred to Committee on Public Safety.

     AN ACT Relating to sunsetting a nonoperating advisory board reporting to the state patrol; amending RCW 13.60.110; creating a new section; and repealing RCW 13.60.120.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   The legislature finds that the advisory board on missing and exploited children that was established under RCW 13.60.120 in 1999 has been an unmitigated success. The advisory board has provided critical advice to the Washington state patrol on the objectives, conduct, management, and coordination of the various activities of the task force on missing and exploited children in order to improve interagency communication and coordination since the task force unit was first formed up through 2010 since the advisory board last convened. The legislature further finds that the task force on missing and exploited children currently functions under the oversight of the Washington state patrol, has achieved a seamless communication and coordinated effort among and between Washington state agencies investigating child exploitation cases, and that the purposes and goals of the advisory board have been fully satisfied. The legislature therefore intends to ensure the multiagency task force on missing and exploited children continues to operate under the oversight of the Washington state patrol and maintain its high standards of work identifying, arresting, and convicting those individuals who exploit children.

Sec. 2   RCW 13.60.110 and 2009 c 518 s 4 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) A task force on missing and exploited children is established in the Washington state patrol. The task force shall be under the direction of the chief of the state patrol.
     (2) The task force is authorized to assist law enforcement agencies, upon request, in cases involving missing or exploited children by:
     (a) Direct assistance and case management;
     (b) Technical assistance;
     (c) Personnel training;
     (d) Referral for assistance from local, state, national, and international agencies; and
     (e) Coordination and information sharing among local, state, interstate, and federal law enforcement and social service agencies.
     (3) To maximize the efficiency and effectiveness of state resources and to improve interagency cooperation, the task force shall, where feasible, use existing facilities, systems, and staff made available by the state patrol and other local, state, interstate, and federal law enforcement and social service agencies. The chief of the state patrol may employ such additional personnel as are necessary for the work of the task force and may share personnel costs with other agencies.
     (4) The chief of the state patrol shall seek public and private grants and gifts to support the work of the task force.
     (5) For the purposes of ((RCW 13.60.100 through 13.60.120)) this chapter, "exploited children" means children under the age of eighteen who are employed, used, persuaded, induced, enticed, or coerced to engage in, or assist another person to engage in, sexually explicit conduct. "Exploited children" also means the rape, molestation, or use for prostitution of children under the age of eighteen.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   RCW 13.60.120 (Task force on missing and exploited children -- Advisory board) and 1999 c 168 s 3 are each repealed.