BILL REQ. #:  H-1635.1 

Read first time 02/06/2007.   Referred to Committee on Human Services.

     AN ACT Relating to the modification of disposition orders; and amending RCW 13.40.200.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

Sec. 1   RCW 13.40.200 and 2004 c 120 s 7 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) When a respondent fails to comply with an order of restitution, community supervision, penalty assessments, or confinement of less than thirty days, the court upon motion of the prosecutor or its own motion, may modify the order after a hearing on the violation.
     (2) The hearing shall afford the respondent the same due process of law as would be afforded an adult probationer. The court may issue a summons or a warrant to compel the respondent's appearance. The state shall have the burden of proving by a preponderance of the evidence the fact of the violation. The respondent shall have the burden of showing that the violation was not a willful refusal to comply with the terms of the order. If a respondent has failed to pay a fine, penalty assessments, or restitution or to perform community restitution hours, as required by the court, it shall be the respondent's burden to show that he or she did not have the means and could not reasonably have acquired the means to pay the fine, penalty assessments, or restitution or perform community restitution.
     (3) If the court finds that a respondent has willfully violated the terms of an order pursuant to subsections (1) and (2) of this section, it may impose a penalty of up to thirty days' confinement. Penalties for multiple violations occurring prior to the hearing shall not be aggregated to exceed thirty days' confinement. Regardless of the number of times a respondent is brought to court for violations of the terms of a single disposition order, the combined total number of days spent by the respondent in detention shall never exceed the maximum term to which an adult could be sentenced for the underlying offense.
     (4) If a respondent has been ordered to pay a fine or monetary penalty and due to a change of circumstance cannot reasonably comply with the order, the court, upon motion of the respondent, may order that the unpaid fine or monetary penalty be converted to community restitution unless the monetary penalty is the crime victim penalty assessment, which cannot be converted, waived, or otherwise modified, except for schedule of payment. The number of hours of community restitution in lieu of a monetary penalty or fine shall be converted at the rate of the prevailing state minimum wage per hour. The monetary penalties or fines collected shall be deposited in the county general fund. A failure to comply with an order under this subsection shall be deemed a failure to comply with an order of community supervision and may be proceeded against as provided in this section.
     (5) When a respondent has willfully violated the terms of a probation bond, the court may modify, revoke, or retain the probation bond as provided in RCW 13.40.054.
     (6) The court, on its own motion or upon the motion of any party, whether or not the respondent has violated any terms of the order of disposition, may modify the order of disposition for good cause shown, so long as the modification does not result in any increased sanction or penalty. In determining whether good cause exists, the court shall consider the best interests of the respondent and the community.