BILL REQ. #: Z-0571.1
State of Washington | 63rd Legislature | 2014 Regular Session |
Read first time 01/13/14. Referred to Committee on Human Services & Corrections.
AN ACT Relating to sexually violent predators; amending RCW 71.09.070 and 71.09.020; and providing an effective date.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
Sec. 1 RCW 71.09.070 and 2011 2nd sp.s. c 7 s 1 are each amended
to read as follows:
(1) Each person committed under this chapter shall have a current
examination of his or her mental condition made by the department ((of
social and health services)) at least once every year. ((The annual
report shall include))
(2) The evaluator must prepare a report that includes consideration
of whether:
(a) The committed person currently meets the definition of a
sexually violent predator ((and whether));
(b) Conditional release to a less restrictive alternative is in the
best interest of the person; and
(c) Conditions can be imposed that would adequately protect the
community.
(3) The evaluator must indicate in the report whether the committed
person participated in the interview and examination.
(4) The department ((of social and health services)) shall file
((this periodic)) the report with the court that committed the person
under this chapter. The report shall be in the form of a declaration
or certification in compliance with the requirements of RCW 9A.72.085
and shall be prepared by a professionally qualified person as defined
by rules adopted by the secretary. A copy of the report shall be
served on the prosecuting agency involved in the initial commitment and
upon the committed person and his or her counsel.
(5) If the committed person participated in the most recent
interview and evaluation completed by the department, the committed
person may retain, or if he or she is indigent and so requests, the
court may appoint a qualified expert or a professional person to
examine him or her, and such expert or professional person shall have
access to all records concerning the person.
(((2))) (6) The committed person must provide proof of compliance
with this section to the court when requesting appointment of an expert
or professional person.
(7) If an unconditional release trial is ordered pursuant to RCW
71.09.090, this section is suspended until the completion of that
trial. If the individual is found either by jury or the court to
continue to meet the definition of a sexually violent predator, the
department must conduct an examination pursuant to this section no
later than one year after the date of the order finding that the
individual continues to be a sexually violent predator. The
examination must comply with the requirements of this section.
(8) During any period of confinement pursuant to a criminal
conviction, or for any period of detention awaiting trial on criminal
charges, this section is suspended. Upon the return of the person
committed under this chapter to the custody of the department, the
department shall initiate an examination of the person's mental
condition. The examination must comply with the requirements of
subsection (1) of this section.
Sec. 2 RCW 71.09.020 and 2009 c 409 s 1 are each amended to read
as follows:
Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, the definitions in
this section apply throughout this chapter.
(1) "Department" means the department of social and health
services.
(2) "Health care facility" means any hospital, hospice care center,
licensed or certified health care facility, health maintenance
organization regulated under chapter 48.46 RCW, federally qualified
health maintenance organization, federally approved renal dialysis
center or facility, or federally approved blood bank.
(3) "Health care practitioner" means an individual or firm licensed
or certified to engage actively in a regulated health profession.
(4) "Health care services" means those services provided by health
professionals licensed pursuant to RCW 18.120.020(4).
(5) "Health profession" means those licensed or regulated
professions set forth in RCW 18.120.020(4).
(6) "Less restrictive alternative" means court-ordered treatment in
a setting less restrictive than total confinement which satisfies the
conditions set forth in RCW 71.09.092. A less restrictive alternative
may not include placement in the community protection program as
pursuant to RCW 71A.12.230.
(7) "Likely to engage in predatory acts of sexual violence if not
confined in a secure facility" means that the person more probably than
not will engage in such acts if released unconditionally from detention
on the sexually violent predator petition. Such likelihood must be
evidenced by a recent overt act if the person is not totally confined
at the time the petition is filed under RCW 71.09.030.
(8) "Mental abnormality" means a congenital or acquired condition
affecting the emotional or volitional capacity which predisposes the
person to the commission of criminal sexual acts in a degree
constituting such person a menace to the health and safety of others.
(9) "Personality disorder" means an enduring pattern of inner
experience and behavior that deviates markedly from the expectations of
the individual's culture, is pervasive and inflexible, has onset in
adolescence or early adulthood, is stable over time and leads to
distress or impairment. Purported evidence of a personality disorder
must be supported by testimony of a licensed forensic psychologist or
psychiatrist.
(10) "Predatory" means acts directed towards: (a) Strangers; (b)
individuals with whom a relationship has been established or promoted
for the primary purpose of victimization; or (c) persons of casual
acquaintance with whom no substantial personal relationship exists.
(11) "Prosecuting agency" means the prosecuting attorney of the
county where the person was convicted or charged or the attorney
general if requested by the prosecuting attorney, as provided in RCW
71.09.030.
(12) "Recent overt act" means any act, threat, or combination
thereof that has either caused harm of a sexually violent nature or
creates a reasonable apprehension of such harm in the mind of an
objective person who knows of the history and mental condition of the
person engaging in the act or behaviors.
(13) "Risk potential activity" or "risk potential facility" means
an activity or facility that provides a higher incidence of risk to the
public from persons conditionally released from the special commitment
center. Risk potential activities and facilities include: Public and
private schools, school bus stops, licensed day care and licensed
preschool facilities, public parks, publicly dedicated trails, sports
fields, playgrounds, recreational and community centers, churches,
synagogues, temples, mosques, public libraries, public and private
youth camps, and others identified by the department following the
hearings on a potential site required in RCW 71.09.315. For purposes
of this chapter, "school bus stops" does not include bus stops
established primarily for public transit.
(14) "Secretary" means the secretary of social and health services
or the secretary's designee.
(15) "Secure facility" means a residential facility for persons
civilly confined under the provisions of this chapter that includes
security measures sufficient to protect the community. Such facilities
include total confinement facilities, secure community transition
facilities, and any residence used as a court-ordered placement under
RCW 71.09.096.
(16) "Secure community transition facility" means a residential
facility for persons civilly committed and conditionally released to a
less restrictive alternative under this chapter. A secure community
transition facility has supervision and security, and either provides
or ensures the provision of sex offender treatment services. Secure
community transition facilities include but are not limited to the
facility established pursuant to RCW 71.09.250(1)(a)(i) and any
community-based facilities established under this chapter and operated
by the secretary or under contract with the secretary.
(17) "Sexually violent offense" means an act committed on, before,
or after July 1, 1990, that is: (a) An act defined in Title 9A RCW as
rape in the first degree, rape in the second degree by forcible
compulsion, rape of a child in the first or second degree, statutory
rape in the first or second degree, indecent liberties by forcible
compulsion, indecent liberties against a child under age fourteen,
incest against a child under age fourteen, or child molestation in the
first or second degree; (b) a felony offense in effect at any time
prior to July 1, 1990, that is comparable to a sexually violent offense
as defined in (a) of this subsection, or any federal or out-of-state
conviction for a felony offense that under the laws of this state would
be a sexually violent offense as defined in this subsection; (c) an act
of murder in the first or second degree, assault in the first or second
degree, assault of a child in the first or second degree, kidnapping in
the first or second degree, burglary in the first degree, residential
burglary, or unlawful imprisonment, which act, either at the time of
sentencing for the offense or subsequently during civil commitment
proceedings pursuant to this chapter, has been determined beyond a
reasonable doubt to have been sexually motivated, as that term is
defined in RCW 9.94A.030; or (d) an act as described in chapter 9A.28
RCW, that is an attempt, criminal solicitation, or criminal conspiracy
to commit one of the felonies designated in (a), (b), or (c) of this
subsection.
(18) "Sexually violent predator" means any person who has been
convicted of or charged with a crime of sexual violence and who suffers
from a mental abnormality or personality disorder which makes the
person likely to engage in predatory acts of sexual violence if not
confined in a secure facility.
(19) "Total confinement facility" means a secure facility that
provides supervision and sex offender treatment services in a total
confinement setting. Total confinement facilities include the special
commitment center and any similar facility designated as a total
confinement facility by the secretary.
(20) "Treatment" means the sex offender specific treatment program
at the special commitment center or a specific course of sex offender
treatment pursuant to RCW 71.09.092 (1) and (2).
NEW SECTION. Sec. 3 This act takes effect July 1, 2014.