BILL REQ. #:  H-1999.1 

Read first time 02/15/2007.   Referred to Committee on Judiciary.

     AN ACT Relating to immunity for department of corrections officers when assistance is requested from a law enforcement officer; and amending RCW 9.94A.720.

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

Sec. 1   RCW 9.94A.720 and 2003 c 379 s 7 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1)(a) Except as provided in RCW 9.94A.501, all offenders sentenced to terms involving community supervision, community restitution, community placement, or community custody shall be under the supervision of the department and shall follow explicitly the instructions and conditions of the department. The department may require an offender to perform affirmative acts it deems appropriate to monitor compliance with the conditions of the sentence imposed. The department may only supervise the offender's compliance with payment of legal financial obligations during any period in which the department is authorized to supervise the offender in the community under RCW 9.94A.501.
     (b) The instructions shall include, at a minimum, reporting as directed to a community corrections officer, remaining within prescribed geographical boundaries, notifying the community corrections officer of any change in the offender's address or employment, and paying the supervision fee assessment.
     (c) For offenders sentenced to terms involving community custody for crimes committed on or after June 6, 1996, the department may include, in addition to the instructions in (b) of this subsection, any appropriate conditions of supervision, including but not limited to, prohibiting the offender from having contact with any other specified individuals or specific class of individuals.
     (d) For offenders sentenced to terms of community custody for crimes committed on or after July 1, 2000, the department may impose conditions as specified in RCW 9.94A.715.
     The conditions authorized under (c) of this subsection may be imposed by the department prior to or during an offender's community custody term. If a violation of conditions imposed by the court or the department pursuant to RCW 9.94A.710 occurs during community custody, it shall be deemed a violation of community placement for the purposes of RCW 9.94A.740 and shall authorize the department to transfer an offender to a more restrictive confinement status as provided in RCW 9.94A.737. At any time prior to the completion of an offender's term of community custody, the department may recommend to the court that any or all of the conditions imposed by the court or the department pursuant to RCW 9.94A.710 or 9.94A.715 be continued beyond the expiration of the offender's term of community custody as authorized in RCW 9.94A.715 (3) or (5).
     The department may require offenders to pay for special services rendered on or after July 25, 1993, including electronic monitoring, day reporting, and telephone reporting, dependent upon the offender's ability to pay. The department may pay for these services for offenders who are not able to pay.
     (2) No offender sentenced to terms involving community supervision, community restitution, community custody, or community placement under the supervision of the department may own, use, or possess firearms or ammunition. Offenders who own, use, or are found to be in actual or constructive possession of firearms or ammunition shall be subject to the violation process and sanctions under RCW 9.94A.634, 9.94A.737, and 9.94A.740. "Constructive possession" as used in this subsection means the power and intent to control the firearm or ammunition. "Firearm" as used in this subsection has the same definition as in RCW 9.41.010.
     (3)(a) Community corrections officers may collaborate with law enforcement officers to monitor offenders under the supervision of the department.
     (b) A community corrections officer who is assigned by the department to partner with law enforcement as permitted under (a) of this subsection, and is participating in a patrol with a law enforcement officer, is not liable for civil damages arising from an act or omission which occurs when the community corrections officer provides assistance to a law enforcement officer during the course of the patrol, so long as the community corrections officer was acting at the request of the law enforcement officer, unless the act or omission constitutes gross negligence.