2156 AMH BURN WEHL 336

HB 2156 - H AMD 1690

By Representative Burnett

WITHDRAWN 02/16/2026

Strike everything after the enacting clause and insert the following:

"NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. A new section is added to chapter 43.10 RCW to read as follows:

(1) When granted a special commission as a specially commissioned Washington peace officer as defined in RCW 10.93.020, unless otherwise excepted or restricted in the terms of the special commission, investigators employed by the office of the attorney general have the powers to enforce some or all of the criminal laws of the state of Washington, including the authority to serve search warrants.

(2) Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to authorize a law enforcement or prosecutorial entity to grant concurrent authority to the attorney general for which the granting authority does not possess."

EFFECT:

Provides that an investigator employed by the Attorney General's Office (AGO) has the authority to serve search warrants, among other powers, when granted a special commission as a specially commissioned Washington peace officer.

Limits the grant of authority to that held by the granting authority.

Removes counties, the governor, the Washington State Patrol's Organized Crime Intelligence Unit, and the AGO's Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and People Cold Case Investigations Assistance Unit as authorities that can grant concurrent criminal authority to an AGO investigator; removes requirements specific to an AGO investigator's authority to obtain and serve a search warrant on a business; removes limitations on an AGO investigator's authority; and removes the definition of an AGO investigator as an employee of the AGO that investigates alleged criminal activity.

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