Washington State House of Representatives Office of Program Research	BILL ANALYSIS
Criminal Justice & Corrections Committee

SSB 6288

Brief Description:  Making technical, clarifying, and nonsubstantive amendments to chapter 12, Laws of 2001, 2nd special session.

Sponsors:  Senate Committee on Human Services & Corrections (originally sponsored by Senators Long and Hargrove).

Brief Summary of Substitute Bill

$Makes a variety of technical, clarifying, and non‑substantive amendments to the law regarding sexually violent predators.

Hearing Date:  2/22/02

Staff:  Jim Morishima (786‑7191).

Background:

Under the Community Protection Act of 1990, a sexually violent predator may be civilly committed upon the expiration of his or her criminal sentence.  A sexually violent predator is a person who has been convicted of, charged with and found not guilty by reason of insanity of, or found to be incompetent to stand trail for a crime of sexual violence and who suffers from a mental abnormality or personality disorder that makes the person likely to engage in predatory acts of sexual violence if not confined to a secure facility.  Sexually violent predators are committed to the custody of the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) and confined at the Special Commitment Center (SCC) for control, care, and individualized treatment.

A person who has been civilly committed is statutorily entitled to an annual review of his or her mental condition, including consideration of whether conditional release to a less restrictive alternative (LRA) is in the best interest of the person and would adequately protect the community.  Under a recent decision by the Washington Supreme Court, the person is also entitled to consideration of an LRA at his or her probable cause and commitment hearings.

Since 1994, the SCC has been operating under a federal court injunction requiring that steps be taken to ensure that constitutionally adequate mental health treatment is being provided to the SCC residents.  In November 1999, the state was held in contempt of court for failing to take all reasonable steps toward this goal and for intentionally disregarding the requirements of the injunction.  The court ordered sanctions of $50 per day per SCC resident beginning in May of 2000.  To date, the sanctions have continued to accrue, but have been suspended because of the state's efforts to bring the program into compliance.  One substantial area of concern for the court is the availability of LRAs for qualified residents of the SCC.

Last year's 3ESSB 6151 did three main things.  First, the bill established a new special commitment center (SCC) and a secure community transition facility (SCTF) on McNeil Island.  Second, the bill made provisions for future SCTFs throughout the state.  Third, the bill established a new sentencing method for certain sexually violent predators.

Summary of Bill:

A variety of technical, non‑substantive changes are made to the provisions of 3ESSB 6151:

$It is clarified that the DSHS's efforts to distribute the employment, educational, and social service impact of the SCTF on McNeil Island is limited to counties west of the cascade mountains;

$Typographical and grammatical errors are corrected;

$Subsections are restructured;

$References to obsolete reporting requirements are removed;

$Terminology is made consistent;

$Obsolete terminology is corrected;

$Subsections are restructured;

$Dates are changed to reflect the effective date of 3ESSB 6151; and

$One section is divided, half of which is re‑codified in a different chapter of law.

Appropriation:  None.

Fiscal Note:  Not Requested.

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