H-2397              _______________________________________________

                                           SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL NO. 757

                        _______________________________________________

State of Washington                              50th Legislature                              1987 Regular Session

By House Committee on Constitution, Elections & Ethics (originally sponsored by Representatives Fisher, Leonard, Fisch, Pruitt, Barnes and Unsoeld; by request of Secretary of State)

Read first time 3/6/87 and passed to Committee on Rules.

AN ACT Relating to the restoration of civil rights; and amending RCW 9.96.050.

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

        Sec. 1.  Section 1, chapter 187, Laws of 1961 as amended by section 1, chapter 75, Laws of 1980 and RCW 9.96.050 are each amended to read as follows:

          When a prisoner on parole has performed the obligations of his release for such time as shall satisfy the board of prison terms and paroles that his final release is not incompatible with the best interests of society and the welfare of the paroled individual, the board may make a final order of discharge and issue a certificate of discharge to the prisoner.  The board retains the jurisdiction to issue a certificate of discharge after the expiration of the prisoner's or parolee's maximum statutory sentence:  PROVIDED, That no such order of discharge shall be made in any case within a period of less than one year from the date on which the board has conditionally discharged the parolee from active supervision by a probation and parole officer, except where the parolee's maximum statutory sentence expires earlier.  Such discharge, whether conditional or final and regardless of when issued, shall have the effect of restoring all civil rights lost by operation of law upon conviction, and the certification of discharge shall so state.  However, the restoration of civil rights to a person who has been conditionally discharged is conditioned on the person either maintaining the status of the conditional discharge or obtaining a final discharge.

          The discharge provided for in this section shall be considered as a part of the sentence of the convicted person and shall not in any manner be construed as affecting the powers of the governor to pardon any such person.