HOUSE BILL ANALYSIS
HB 1274
Title: An act relating to jails.
Brief Description: Changing provisions relating to jails.
Sponsors:
Representatives Cairnes, O'Brien, Ballasiotes, Lovick, Koster and Haigh.
HOUSE
COMMITTEE ON CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND CORRECTIONS
Staff:
Yvonne Walker (786-7841).
Background:
Reimbursement for Cost of Incarceration. Municipalities and counties may establish inmate
fines and require reimbursement for the cost of incarceration from inmates with
the means to pay. These fines can range up to a maximum of $50 per day for
offenders convicted of a misdemeanor or gross misdemeanor and sentenced to a
local jail. All funds received by inmates for the cost of incarceration in a
county or city jail must be remitted for criminal justice purposes to the
county or city that is responsible for the offender's jail costs.
Article I Section 17 of the Washington State
Constitution prohibits imprisoning a person for failing to pay a debt, except
in cases of absconding debtors.
County Supervised Community Option. Alternatives to total confinement are available
for offenders with sentences of one year or less. These alternatives include
the following sentence conditions that the court may order as substitutes for
total confinement: (1) One day of partial confinement may be substituted for
one day of total confinement; (2) in addition, for offenders convicted of
nonviolent offenses only, eight hours of community service may be substituted
for one day of total confinement, with a maximum conversion limit of 240 hours
or 30 days. Community service hours must be completed within the period of
community supervision or a time period specified by the court, which shall not
exceed 24 months, pursuant to a schedule determined by the department.
Separation of Adult and Juvenile Offenders. Any juvenile offender under the age of 18 years
old, who has been convicted in criminal court, must be housed in a jail or
prison cell that does not contain adult offenders.
Reimbursement
for cost of Incarceration.
Municipalities and counties may require any person who is booked in a county or
municipal jail and not released upon completion of the booking process, to pay
a $10 booking fee to the sheriff=s department of the county where the jail is
located. The person may pay the booking fee from any money he currently has in
his possession. If the person does not have any money in his current
possession then the sheriff must notify the district court for assessment of
the fee. The district court must order the booking fee to be paid to the
sheriff=s department as part of the defendant=s sentence or disposition imposed. If the defendant is acquitted, not
charged, or if the charges are dismissed then the sheriff must return the
booking fee to the defendant at his last known address.
In
addition, municipalities and counties may require a nonindigent inmate to pay
for his entire cost of incarceration including any pretrial expenses the
municipality or city may have occurred as a result of the offender being held
in confinement prior to his sentencing. The Acost of
incarceration" may include the actual cost of providing a prisoner with
shelter, food, clothing, transportation, supervision, health care, and other
services and supplies as may be necessary for the maintenance and support of
the offender while in custody.
Before
a jail or detention administrator may request reimbursement from a prisoner,
they must determine the financial status of the prisoner by requesting the
prisoner to complete and sign a form, under penalty of perjury, that contains
his age, sex, marital status, the number and ages of any children or dependents,
and the type and value of any real estate, personal property, investments,
pensions, annuities, bank accounts, cash, or other property of value owned or
possessed by the prisoner.
If
the prisoner refuses to complete the form, the jail or detention administrator
may issue a written demand for the prisoner to pay the reimbursement costs
associated with his incarceration. The prisoner may arrange to repay the
reimbursement costs on a monthly basis, however, if he does not satisfy the
demand for reimbursement then the matter will be turned over to the prosecuting
attorney or city attorney for the filing of a civil action suit on behalf of
the county or municipality for the amount of reimbursement, costs incurred in
conducting any investigation of the financial status of the prisoner, and any
attorneys' fees and costs.
The
court in this civil action may award a monetary judgment in favor of the city
or county, or order a prisoner to perform community service to satisfy the
reimbursement cost. Each hour of work performed by the prisoner reduces the
amount owed by $8. Also, to prevent the disposition of the prisoner's property
by the prisoner, or the prisoner's spouse, the attorney may file a motion for a
temporary restraining order. Prior child support or alimony, restitution, and
court-ordered legal financial obligations have priority over the any
incarceration reimbursement payment. A county or municipality may also seek to
have a prisoner=s wages garnished in order to satisfy his legal
financial obligations.
All
reimbursements received by a county or municipality must be deposited into its
general fund.
If
an offender is held in incarceration in another neighboring county or city jail
due to lack of bed space in the area where the crime was committed then that
county or city shall receive the reimbursement for any incarceration costs they
incurred with that offender. Those reimbursement costs may be paid directly by
the offender or by the county or municipality that placed that offender in
their care. If the county or city where the crime occurred paid the
incarceration costs then they may seek reimbursement from the offender
themselves.
In addition, the administrator of a jail may
acquire any necessary treatment for medical and dental conditions requiring
prompt attention, for juveniles detained in jail. The care and treatment may
be provided without parental consent when prompt attention is required and the
administrator of the county jail has been unable to secure parental or guardian
permission after several reasonable attempts. Treatment is prohibited for
juveniles whose parents or guardians inform the administrator of the jail of
objections to medical treatment prior to when the treatment is actually
provided.
County
Supervised Community Option. A
local option is created for community custody (or a county supervised community
option) whereby jails may convert a nonviolent/nonsex offender=s jail time to an available county supervised alternative placement.
Separation
of Adult and Juvenile Offenders.
Juvenile offenders under the age of 18 years old, who have been convicted in
criminal court, may be co-mingled and housed in jail or prison cells that
contain adult offenders.
Fiscal
Note: Requested on January 26,
1999.
Effective
Date: Ninety days after
adjournment of session in which bill is passed.