AN
ACT Relating to domestic violence fatality reviews; adding a new chapter to
Title 43 RCW; and creating new sections.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE
LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW
SECTION. Sec. 1.
Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, the definitions in this section
apply throughout this chapter.
(1)
"Department" means the department of social and health services.
(2)
"Domestic violence fatality" means a homicide or suicide under any of
the following circumstances:
(a)
The alleged perpetrator and victim resided together at any time;
(b)
The alleged perpetrator and victim have a child in common;
(c)
The alleged perpetrator and victim were married, divorced, separated, or had a
dating relationship;
(d)
The alleged perpetrator had been stalking the victim;
(e)
The homicide victim lived in the same household, was present at the workplace
of, was in proximity of, or was related by blood or affinity to a victim who
experienced or was threatened with domestic abuse by the alleged perpetrator;
or
(f)
The victim or perpetrator was a child of a person in a relationship that is
described within this subsection.
This
subsection should be interpreted broadly to give the domestic violence fatality
review panels discretion to review fatalities that have occurred directly to
domestic relationships.
NEW
SECTION. Sec. 2. (1)
Subject to the availability of state funds, the department shall contract with
an entity with expertise in domestic violence policy and education and with a
state-wide perspective to coordinate review of domestic violence fatalities.
The coordinating entity shall be authorized to:
(a)
Convene regional review panels;
(b)
Gather information for use of regional review panels;
(c)
Provide training and technical assistance to regional review panels;
(d)
Compile information and issue biennial reports with recommendations; and
(e)
Establish a protocol that may be used as a guideline for identifying domestic
violence related fatalities, forming review panels, convening reviews, and
selecting which cases to review. The coordinating entity may also establish
protocols for data collection and preservation of confidentiality.
(2)(a)
The coordinating entity may convene a regional domestic violence fatality
review panel to review any domestic violence fatality.
(b)
Private citizens may request a review of a particular death by submitting a
written request to the coordinating entity within two years of the death. Of
these, the appropriate regional review panel may review those cases which fit
the criteria set forth in the protocol for the project.
NEW
SECTION. Sec. 3. (1)
Regional domestic violence fatality review panels shall include but not be
limited to:
(a)
Medical personnel with expertise in domestic violence abuse;
(b)
Coroners or medical examiners or others experienced in the field of forensic pathology,
if available;
(c)
County prosecuting attorneys and municipal attorneys;
(d)
Domestic violence shelter service staff and domestic violence victims'
advocates;
(e)
Law enforcement personnel;
(f)
Local health department staff;
(g)
Child protective services workers;
(h)
Community corrections professionals;
(i)
Perpetrator treatment program provider; and
(j)
Judges, court administrators, and/or their representatives.
(2)
Regional domestic violence fatality review panels may also invite other relevant
persons to serve on an ad hoc basis and participate as full members of the
review team for a particular review. These persons may include, but are not
limited to:
(a)
Individuals with particular expertise helpful to the regional review panel;
(b)
Representatives of organizations or agencies that had contact with or provided
services to the homicide victim or to the alleged perpetrator.
(3)
The regional review panels shall make periodic reports to the coordinating
entity and shall make a final report to the coordinating entity with regard to
every fatality that is reviewed.
NEW
SECTION. Sec. 4. (1)
An oral or written communication or a document shared within or produced by a
regional domestic violence fatality review panel related to a domestic violence
fatality review is confidential and not subject to disclosure or discoverable
by a third party. An oral or written communication or a document provided by a
third party to a regional domestic violence fatality review panel, or between a
third party and a regional domestic violence fatality review panel is
confidential and not subject to disclosure or discovery by a third party.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, recommendations from the regional domestic
violence fatality review panel and the coordinating entity generally may be
disclosed minus personal identifiers.
(2)
The regional review panels, only to the extent otherwise permitted by law or
court rule, shall have access to information and records regarding the domestic
violence victims and perpetrators under review held by domestic violence
perpetrators' treatment providers; dental care providers; hospitals, medical
providers, and pathologists; coroners and medical examiners; mental health
providers; lawyers; the state and local governments; the courts; and
employers. The coordinating entity and the regional review panels shall
maintain the confidentiality of such information to the extent required by any
applicable law.
(3)
The regional review panels shall review, only to the extent otherwise permitted
by law or court rule when determined to be relevant and necessary to an
investigation, guardian ad litem reports, parenting evaluations, and victim
impact statements; probation information; mental health evaluations done for
court; presentence interviews and reports, and any recommendations made
regarding bail and release on own recognizance; child protection services,
welfare, and other information held by the department; any law enforcement
incident documentation, such as incident reports, dispatch records, victim,
witness, and suspect statements, and any supplemental reports, probable cause
statements, and 911 call taker's reports; corrections and postsentence
supervision reports; and any other information determined to be relevant to the
review. The coordinating entity and the regional review panels shall maintain
the confidentiality of such information to the extent required by any
applicable law.
NEW
SECTION. Sec. 5. If
acting in good faith, without malice, and within the parameters of this chapter
and the protocols established, representatives of the coordinating entity and
the regional domestic violence fatality review panels are immune from civil
liability for an activity related to reviews of particular fatalities.
NEW
SECTION. Sec. 6.
Within available funds, data regarding each domestic violence fatality review
shall be collected on standard forms created by the coordinating entity. Data
collected on reviewed fatalities shall be compiled and analyzed for the
purposes of identifying points at which the system response to domestic
violence could be improved and identifying patterns in domestic violence
fatalities.
NEW
SECTION. Sec. 7. (1) A
biennial state-wide report shall be issued by the coordinating entity in
December of even-numbered years containing recommendations on policy changes
that would improve program performance, and issues identified through the work
of the regional panels. Copies of this report shall be distributed to the
governor, the house of representatives children and family services and
criminal justice and corrections committees, and the senate human services and
corrections and judiciary committees and to those agencies involved in the
regional domestic violence fatality review panels.
(2)
The annual report in December 2010 shall contain a recommendation as to whether
or not the domestic violence review process provided for in this chapter should
continue or be terminated by the legislature.
NEW
SECTION. Sec. 8.
Sections 1 through 7 of this act constitute a new chapter in Title 43 RCW.
NEW
SECTION. Sec. 9. If
any part of this act is found to be in conflict with federal requirements that
are a prescribed condition to the allocation of federal funds to the state, the
conflicting part of this act is inoperative solely to the extent of the
conflict and with respect to the agencies directly affected, and this finding
does not affect the operation of the remainder of this act in its application
to the agencies concerned. Rules adopted under this act must meet federal
requirements that are a necessary condition to the receipt of federal funds by
the state.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 10. 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.
