AN ACT Relating to resentencing of individuals sentenced as a persistent offender, or sentenced to an exceptional sentence pursuant to a plea agreement intended to avoid a persistent offender sentence, due to a robbery in the second degree charge or conviction; and amending RCW 9.94A.647.

(1) In any criminal case wherein an offender has been sentenced as a persistent offender, or wherein an exceptional sentence was imposed pursuant to a plea agreement which avoided a possible persistent offender sentence, the offender must have a resentencing hearing if a current or past charge or conviction for robbery in the second degree was used as a basis for the finding that the offender was or would have been a persistent offender.

(a) The ((prosecuting attorney for the county in which any offender was sentenced as a persistent offender))office of public defense shall review each offender's sentencing document. If a current or past charge or conviction for robbery in the second degree was used as a basis for a finding that an offender was or would have been a persistent offender, the ((prosecuting attorney))office of public defense shall, or the offender may, make a motion for relief from the exceptional sentence to the original sentencing court.

(i) The offender was sentenced as a persistent offender when a current or past conviction for robbery in the second degree was used as the basis for the finding that the offender was a persistent offender; or

(ii) The offender is serving an exceptional sentence pursuant to a plea agreement which avoided a possible persistent offender sentence, and at the time the offender was sentenced, the offender had two prior convictions pursuant to RCW 9.94A.030. The offender's arrest, charge, or at least one prior conviction must include robbery in the second degree.

(2) The sentencing court shall grant the motion if it finds that ((a current or past conviction for robbery in the second degree was used as a basis for a finding that the offender was a persistent offender))the offender is eligible for resentencing and shall immediately set ((an expedited))a date for resentencing. A guilty plea by an offender seeking resentencing pursuant to this section may not be withdrawn. At resentencing, the court shall sentence the offender as if robbery in the second degree was not a most serious offense ((at the time the original sentence was imposed)).

(3) Notwithstanding the provisions of RCW 9.94A.345, for purposes of resentencing under this section or sentencing any person as a persistent offender after July 25, 2021, robbery in the second degree shall not be considered a most serious offense regardless of whether the offense was committed before, on, or after ((the effective date of chapter 187, Laws of 2019 [July 28, 2019]))July 28, 2019.

(4) Upon request, the administrative office of the courts and the department of corrections shall provide plea agreement data to the office of public defense, which shall analyze the data for purposes of identifying persons eligible for resentencing under this section. The office of public defense shall notify persons it identifies as eligible for resentencing, and the office shall share this information with county public defenders and county prosecutors.