BILL REQ. #:  S-0374.1 

Read first time 01/18/13.   Referred to Committee on Human Services & Corrections.

     AN ACT Relating to conditions under which the department of corrections provides rental vouchers to a registered sex offender; amending RCW 9.94A.729; providing an effective date; and declaring an emergency.

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

Sec. 1   RCW 9.94A.729 and 2011 1st sp.s. c 40 s 4 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1)(a) The term of the sentence of an offender committed to a correctional facility operated by the department may be reduced by earned release time in accordance with procedures that shall be developed and adopted by the correctional agency having jurisdiction in which the offender is confined. The earned release time shall be for good behavior and good performance, as determined by the correctional agency having jurisdiction. The correctional agency shall not credit the offender with earned release credits in advance of the offender actually earning the credits.
     (b) Any program established pursuant to this section shall allow an offender to earn early release credits for presentence incarceration. If an offender is transferred from a county jail to the department, the administrator of a county jail facility shall certify to the department the amount of time spent in custody at the facility and the amount of earned release time. The department may approve a jail certification from a correctional agency that calculates earned release time based on the actual amount of confinement time served by the offender before sentencing when an erroneous calculation of confinement time served by the offender before sentencing appears on the judgment and sentence.
     (2) An offender who has been convicted of a felony committed after July 23, 1995, that involves any applicable deadly weapon enhancements under RCW 9.94A.533 (3) or (4), or both, shall not receive any good time credits or earned release time for that portion of his or her sentence that results from any deadly weapon enhancements.
     (3) An offender may earn early release time as follows:
     (a) In the case of an offender convicted of a serious violent offense, or a sex offense that is a class A felony, committed on or after July 1, 1990, and before July 1, 2003, the aggregate earned release time may not exceed fifteen percent of the sentence.
     (b) In the case of an offender convicted of a serious violent offense, or a sex offense that is a class A felony, committed on or after July 1, 2003, the aggregate earned release time may not exceed ten percent of the sentence.
     (c) An offender is qualified to earn up to fifty percent of aggregate earned release time if he or she:
     (i) Is not classified as an offender who is at a high risk to reoffend as provided in subsection (4) of this section;
     (ii) Is not confined pursuant to a sentence for:
     (A) A sex offense;
     (B) A violent offense;
     (C) A crime against persons as defined in RCW 9.94A.411;
     (D) A felony that is domestic violence as defined in RCW 10.99.020;
     (E) A violation of RCW 9A.52.025 (residential burglary);
     (F) A violation of, or an attempt, solicitation, or conspiracy to violate, RCW 69.50.401 by manufacture or delivery or possession with intent to deliver methamphetamine; or
     (G) A violation of, or an attempt, solicitation, or conspiracy to violate, RCW 69.50.406 (delivery of a controlled substance to a minor);
     (iii) Has no prior conviction for the offenses listed in (c)(ii) of this subsection;
     (iv) Participates in programming or activities as directed by the offender's individual reentry plan as provided under RCW 72.09.270 to the extent that such programming or activities are made available by the department; and
     (v) Has not committed a new felony after July 22, 2007, while under community custody.
     (d) In no other case shall the aggregate earned release time exceed one-third of the total sentence.
     (4) The department shall perform a risk assessment of each offender who may qualify for earned early release under subsection (3)(c) of this section utilizing the risk assessment tool recommended by the Washington state institute for public policy. Subsection (3)(c) of this section does not apply to offenders convicted after July 1, 2010.
     (5)(a) A person who is eligible for earned early release as provided in this section and who will be supervised by the department pursuant to RCW 9.94A.501 or 9.94A.5011, shall be transferred to community custody in lieu of earned release time;
     (b) The department shall, as a part of its program for release to the community in lieu of earned release, require the offender to propose a release plan that includes an approved residence and living arrangement. All offenders with community custody terms eligible for release to community custody in lieu of earned release shall provide an approved residence and living arrangement prior to release to the community;
     (c) The department may deny transfer to community custody in lieu of earned release time if the department determines an offender's release plan, including proposed residence location and living arrangements, may violate the conditions of the sentence or conditions of supervision, place the offender at risk to violate the conditions of the sentence, place the offender at risk to reoffend, or present a risk to victim safety or community safety. The department's authority under this section is independent of any court-ordered condition of sentence or statutory provision regarding conditions for community custody;
     (d) If the department is unable to approve the offender's release plan, the department may do one or more of the following:
     (i) Transfer an offender to partial confinement in lieu of earned early release for a period not to exceed three months. The three months in partial confinement is in addition to that portion of the offender's term of confinement that may be served in partial confinement as provided in RCW 9.94A.728(5);
     (ii) Provide rental vouchers to the offender for a period not to exceed three months if rental assistance will result in an approved release plan. The voucher must be provided in conjunction with additional transition support programming or services that enable an offender to participate in services including, but not limited to, substance abuse treatment, mental health treatment, sex offender treatment, educational programming, or employment programming. The department may only provide rental vouchers to registered sex offenders where the following conditions have been satisfied:
     (A) Notice to a local government of the location of the intended dwelling unit at least thirty days before issuance of the rental voucher is given by the department;
     (B) A local government has issued a certificate of inspection for the dwelling unit for which the voucher is to be used establishing the unit's compliance with the state and local fire and building codes and applicable zoning and development regulations;
     (C) No more than three registered sex offenders utilizing rental vouchers may reside in a dwelling unit at one time;
     (D) Notice to a local government of the name of the offender and the offender's risk level at least ten days before issuance of the rental voucher is given by the department; and
     (E) The offender is classified as risk level III, and the dwelling unit for which the rental voucher will be used is located at least four hundred forty feet from another dwelling unit housing offenders classified as risk level III and at least eight hundred eighty feet measured nearest property line to nearest property line from a public or private school or child care center.
     Local governments shall have ten days from the later of the date of the request to issue a certificate of inspection or the date the local government is given access to the dwelling unit to conduct an inspection or reinspection, if corrections are required to render the unit code compliant. Subsection (5)(d)(ii)(B) of this section is deemed satisfied if a local government does not issue a timely certificate of inspection. A local government may charge inspection fees to the applicant to compensate for services. A local government may waive (d)(ii)(C) of this subsection (5) and allow the department to issue more than three rental vouchers per dwelling unit if the dwelling unit is in a location where such increased rental occupancy is compatible with adjoining uses, the operator of the dwelling unit demonstrates to the reasonable satisfaction of a local government that adequate measures are in place for security of the dwelling unit, and the operator of the dwelling unit consents to a local government conducting fire and building code certifications as frequently as every thirty days. If the dwelling unit has a certificate of inspection less than thirty days old establishing the unit's compliance with the state and local fire and building codes and applicable zoning and development regulations, the department is not required to resatisfy (d)(ii)(A) of this subsection (5) and give duplicate or multiple notices to a local government;
     (e) For each offender who is the recipient of a rental voucher, the department shall include, concurrent with the data that the department otherwise obtains and records, the housing status of the offender for the duration of the offender's supervision.
     (6) An offender serving a term of confinement imposed under RCW 9.94A.670(5)(a) is not eligible for earned release credits under this section.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   This act is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety, or support of the state government and its existing public institutions, and takes effect July 1, 2013.