AN
ACT Relating to a statewide registered sex offender web site; amending RCW
43.43.540; reenacting and amending RCW 4.24.550; and creating a new section.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE
LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
Sec.
1. RCW
4.24.550 and 2001 c 283 s 2 and 2001 c 169 s 2 are each reenacted and amended
to read as follows:
(1)
In addition to the disclosure under subsection (5) of this section, public
agencies are authorized to release information to the public regarding sex
offenders and kidnapping offenders when the agency determines that disclosure
of the information is relevant and necessary to protect the public and
counteract the danger created by the particular offender. This authorization
applies to information regarding: (a) Any person adjudicated or convicted of a
sex offense as defined in RCW 9A.44.130 or a kidnapping offense as defined by
RCW 9A.44.130; (b) any person under the jurisdiction of the indeterminate
sentence review board as the result of a sex offense or kidnapping offense; (c)
any person committed as a sexually violent predator under chapter 71.09 RCW or
as a sexual psychopath under chapter 71.06 RCW; (d) any person found not guilty
of a sex offense or kidnapping offense by reason of insanity under chapter
10.77 RCW; and (e) any person found incompetent to stand trial for a sex
offense or kidnapping offense and subsequently committed under chapter 71.05 or
71.34 RCW.
(2)
Except for the information specifically required under subsection (5) of
this section, the extent of the public disclosure of relevant and necessary
information shall be rationally related to: (a) The level of risk posed by the
offender to the community; (b) the locations where the offender resides,
expects to reside, or is regularly found; and (c) the needs of the affected
community members for information to enhance their individual and collective
safety.
(3)
Except for the information specifically required under subsection (5) of
this section, local law enforcement agencies shall consider the following
guidelines in determining the extent of a public disclosure made under this
section: (a) For offenders classified as risk level I, the agency shall share
information with other appropriate law enforcement agencies and may disclose,
upon request, relevant, necessary, and accurate information to any victim or
witness to the offense and to any individual community member who lives near
the residence where the offender resides, expects to reside, or is regularly
found; (b) for offenders classified as risk level II, the agency may also
disclose relevant, necessary, and accurate information to public and private
schools, child day care centers, family day care providers, businesses and
organizations that serve primarily children, women, or vulnerable adults, and neighbors
and community groups near the residence where the offender resides, expects to
reside, or is regularly found; (c) for offenders classified as risk level III,
the agency may also disclose relevant, necessary, and accurate information to
the public at large; and (d) because more localized notification is not
feasible and homeless and transient offenders may present unique risks to the
community, the agency may also disclose relevant, necessary, and accurate
information to the public at large for offenders registered as homeless or
transient.
(4)
The county sheriff with whom an offender classified as risk level III is
registered shall cause to be published by legal notice, advertising, or news
release a sex offender community notification that conforms to the guidelines
established under RCW 4.24.5501 in at least one legal newspaper with general
circulation in the area of the sex offender's registered address or location.
The county sheriff shall also cause to be published consistent with this subsection
a current list of level III registered sex offenders, twice yearly. Unless
the information is posted on the web site described in subsection (5) of this
section, this list shall be maintained by the county sheriff on a publicly
accessible web site and shall be updated at least once per month.
(5)(a)
When funded by federal grants or other sources other than state funds, the
Washington association of sheriffs and police chiefs shall create and maintain
a statewide registered sex offender web site, which shall be available to the
public. The web site shall post all level III registered sex offenders in the
state of Washington. The web site shall contain, but is not limited to, the
registered sex offender's name, relevant criminal convictions, address by hundred
block, physical description, and photograph. The web site shall provide
mapping capabilities that display the sex offender's address by hundred block
on a map. The web site shall allow citizens to search for registered sex
offenders within the state of Washington by county, city, zip code, last name,
type of conviction, and address by hundred block.
(b)
Until the implementation of (a) of this subsection, the Washington association
of sheriffs and police chiefs shall create a web site available to the public
that provides electronic links to county-operated web sites that offer sex
offender registration information.
(6)
Local law enforcement agencies that disseminate information pursuant to this
section shall: (a) Review available risk level classifications made by the
department of corrections, the department of social and health services, and
the indeterminate sentence review board; (b) assign risk level classifications
to all offenders about whom information will be disseminated; and (c) make a
good faith effort to notify the public and residents at least fourteen days
before the offender is released from confinement or, where an offender moves
from another jurisdiction, as soon as possible after the agency learns of the
offender's move, except that in no case may this notification provision be
construed to require an extension of an offender's release date. The juvenile
court shall provide local law enforcement officials with all relevant
information on offenders allowed to remain in the community in a timely manner.
(((6)))
(7) An appointed or elected public official, public employee, or public
agency as defined in RCW 4.24.470 ((is)), or units of local
government and its employees, as provided in RCW 36.28A.010, are immune
from civil liability for damages for any discretionary risk level
classification decisions or release of relevant and necessary information,
unless it is shown that the official, employee, or agency acted with gross
negligence or in bad faith. The immunity in this section applies to risk level
classification decisions and the release of relevant and necessary information
regarding any individual for whom disclosure is authorized. The decision of a
local law enforcement agency or official to classify an offender to a risk level
other than the one assigned by the department of corrections, the department of
social and health services, or the indeterminate sentence review board, or the
release of any relevant and necessary information based on that different
classification shall not, by itself, be considered gross negligence or bad
faith. The immunity provided under this section applies to the release of
relevant and necessary information to other public officials, public employees,
or public agencies, and to the general public.
(((7)))
(8) Except as may otherwise be provided by law, nothing in this section
shall impose any liability upon a public official, public employee, or public
agency for failing to release information authorized under this section.
(((8)))
(9) Nothing in this section implies that information regarding persons
designated in subsection (1) of this section is confidential except as may
otherwise be provided by law.
(((9)))
(10) When a local law enforcement agency or official classifies an
offender differently than the offender is classified by the ((department of
corrections,)) end of sentence review committee or the department of
social and health services((, or the indeterminate sentence review board))
at the time of the offender's release from confinement, the law
enforcement agency or official shall notify the ((appropriate department or
the board)) end of sentence review committee of the department of social
and health services and submit its reasons supporting the change in
classification. Upon implementation of subsection (5)(a) of this section,
notification of the change shall also be sent to the Washington association of
sheriffs and police chiefs.
Sec.
2. RCW
43.43.540 and 1998 c 220 s 4 are each amended to read as follows:
The
county sheriff shall (1) forward the information, photographs, and
fingerprints obtained pursuant to RCW 9A.44.130, including any notice of change
of address, to the Washington state patrol within five working days; and (2)
upon implementation of RCW 4.24.550(5)(a), forward any information obtained
pursuant to RCW 9A.44.130 that is necessary to operate the registered sex
offender web site described in RCW 4.24.550(5)(a) to the Washington association
of sheriffs and police chiefs within five working days of receiving the
information, including any notice of change of address or change in risk level
notification. The state patrol shall maintain a central registry of sex
offenders and kidnapping offenders required to register under RCW 9A.44.130 and
shall adopt rules consistent with chapters 10.97, 10.98, and 43.43 RCW as are
necessary to carry out the purposes of RCW 9A.44.130, 9A.44.140, 10.01.200,
43.43.540, 46.20.187, 70.48.470, and 72.09.330. The Washington state patrol
shall reimburse the counties for the costs of processing the offender
registration, including taking the fingerprints and the photographs.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. If
any provision of this act or its application to any person or circumstance is
held invalid due to a conflict with federal law, the conflicting part of this
act is inoperative solely to the extent of the conflict, and such holding does
not affect the operation of the remainder of this act or the application of the
provision to other persons or circumstances.
