H-4719.1 _______________________________________________
SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL 2491
_______________________________________________
State of Washington 56th Legislature 2000 Regular Session
By House Committee on Appropriations (originally sponsored by Representatives Schindler, Ballasiotes, Koster, Sullivan, Esser, Wood, Crouse, Cairnes, Rockefeller, Edmonds, Mulliken, Clements, Ruderman, McDonald and Dunn)
Read first time 02/08/2000. Referred to Committee on .
AN ACT Relating to DNA testing of evidence; adding new sections to chapter 72.09 RCW; creating a new section; and providing an effective date.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. A new section is added to chapter 72.09 RCW to read as follows:
(1) Any person sentenced to death or to life imprisonment without possibility of release or parole may request the department to issue an order for DNA testing of any appropriate evidence available for testing which may be a reasonable basis for proving the person's innocence, if DNA test results were not available at the time of conviction or were not allowed in the court in which the conviction occurred.
(2) The department may issue an order for DNA testing when DNA testing is appropriate under rules adopted by the department and was not available or allowed in the court in which the conviction occurred.
(3) The order for DNA testing shall be served on the law enforcement agency holding the evidence by personal service or by any form of mail requiring a return receipt.
(4) Within twenty days of the date of service of an order for DNA testing, any party required to produce evidence for DNA testing may petition in superior court to bar or postpone DNA testing.
(5) The order for DNA testing shall contain:
(a) An explanation of the right to proceed in superior court under subsection (4) of this section; and
(b) Notice that if no one proceeds under subsection (4) of this section, the agency issuing the order will schedule DNA testing and will notify the producing law enforcement agency of the time and place of testing by regular mail.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. A new section is added to chapter 72.09 RCW to read as follows:
The department shall adopt such administrative rules as are necessary to implement this act. The rules shall define, at a minimum, the following terms: Appropriate evidence available for testing, and reasonable basis for proving the person's innocence. The rules shall also establish the procedure by which offenders may request testing, the procedure by which these requests are evaluated, the procedure by which an offender may appeal to the department for reconsideration of a request that was denied, and the procedure by which any testing will occur. In no case may the department adopt a rule that is inconsistent with the need to maintain a chain of custody for any evidence subject to testing.
The department shall also, by rule, establish what costs it will incur and what costs, if any, shall be the responsibility of the offender. The department is specifically authorized to adopt, by rule, a lifetime limitation on the number of evidence testing requests an offender may make or the total amount of public funds spent per offender for testing, or both. The department is encouraged to adopt a fee schedule that includes an offender copayment requirement that balances the need to deter frivolous requests with the need to conduct tests that may prove an offender innocent.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. A new section is added to chapter 72.09 RCW to read as follows:
Nothing in this act shall be construed to create a new or additional cause of action in any court. Nothing in this act shall be construed to limit any rights offenders might otherwise have to court access under any other statutory or constitutional provision.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. Section 1 of this act takes effect September 1, 2000.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. If specific funding for the purposes of this act, referencing this act by bill or chapter number, is not provided by June 30, 2000, in the omnibus appropriations act, this act is null and void.
--- END ---