HOUSE BILL REPORT

                 SSB 5800

             As Reported By House Committee On:

                          Judiciary

Title:  An act relating to violation of human remains.

Brief Description:  Increasing the penalty for violating human remains.

Sponsors:  Senate Committee on Law & Justice (originally sponsored by Senators Nelson, A. Smith and Winsley).

Brief History:

  Reported by House Committee on:

Judiciary, March 30, 1993, DPA.

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY

Majority Report:  Do pass as amended.  Signed by 16 members:  Representatives Appelwick, Chair; Ludwig, Vice Chair; Padden, Ranking Minority Member; Ballasiotes, Assistant Ranking Minority Member; Campbell; Chappell; Forner; Johanson; Long; Mastin; H. Myers; Riley; Schmidt; Scott; Tate; and Wineberry.

Staff:  Bill Perry (786-7123).

Background:  Current statutes provide criminal penalties if a person mutilates, disinters, or removes human remains from the place of interment without authority of law.  The punishment is not more than three years in prison, or a fine of not more than $1,000, or both.

Prior law had made it the equivalent of a class B felony to have sexual intercourse with a dead body.  That law, however, was repealed in 1975 along with most of the so-called sodomy laws.

Summary of Amended Bill:  Sexual intercourse or sexual contact with a dead human body is made a class C felony.  The crime carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.  The presumptive sentence is up to a year in jail.

Amended Bill Compared to Substitute Bill:  The amended bill places the crime in the criminal code, uses definitions similar to those used in describing other sex offenses, and leaves the crime as an unranked class C felony.

Fiscal Note:  Not requested.

Effective Date of Amended Bill:  Ninety days after adjournment of session in which bill is passed.

Testimony For:  Although this offense is rare, it should be covered by a specific prohibition.  There currently is no appropriate crime with which to charge a person who sexually violates human remains.

Testimony Against:  None.

Witnesses:  Matt Thomas, Washington Association of Prosecuting Attorneys (pro); and James Noel, Washington Funeral Directors Association (pro).