BILL REQ. #:  S-0253.1 

Read first time 02/05/2007.   Referred to Committee on Human Services & Corrections.

     AN ACT Relating to law enforcement use of risk level classifications for registration and community notification of sex offenders and kidnapping offenders; and amending RCW 72.09.345.

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

Sec. 1   RCW 72.09.345 and 1997 c 364 s 4 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) In addition to any other information required to be released under this chapter, the department is authorized, pursuant to RCW 4.24.550, to release relevant information that is necessary to protect the public concerning offenders convicted of sex offenses.
     (2) In order for public agencies to have the information necessary to notify the public as authorized in RCW 4.24.550, and to provide for consistency and fairness in risk assessment, the secretary shall establish and administer an end-of-sentence review committee for the purposes of assigning risk levels, reviewing available release plans, and making appropriate referrals for sex offenders. The committee shall assess, on a case-by-case basis, the public risk posed by sex offenders who are: (a) Preparing for their release from confinement for sex offenses committed on or after July 1, 1984; and (b) accepted from another state under a reciprocal agreement under the interstate compact authorized in chapter 72.74 RCW.
     (3) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the committee shall have access to all relevant records and information in the possession of public agencies relating to the offenders under review, including police reports; prosecutors' statements of probable cause; presentence investigations and reports; complete judgments and sentences; current classification referrals; criminal history summaries; violation and disciplinary reports; all psychological evaluations and psychiatric hospital reports; sex offender treatment program reports; and juvenile records. Records and information obtained under this subsection shall not be disclosed outside the committee unless otherwise authorized by law.
     (4) The committee shall review each sex offender under its authority before the offender's release from confinement or start of the offender's term of community placement or community custody in order to: (a) Classify the offender into a risk level for the purposes of public notification under RCW 4.24.550; (b) where available, review the offender's proposed release plan in accordance with the requirements of RCW 72.09.340; and (c) make appropriate referrals.
     (5) The committee shall classify as risk level I those sex offenders whose risk assessments indicate a low risk of reoffense within the community at large. The committee shall classify as risk level II those offenders whose risk assessments indicate a moderate risk of reoffense within the community at large. The committee shall classify as risk level III those offenders whose risk assessments indicate a high risk of reoffense within the community at large.
     (6) Where the end-of-sentence review committee assigns a risk level classification, the risk level classification assigned by the end-of-sentence review committee is the level to be used by law enforcement for the purposes of community notification under RCW 4.24.550. If a law enforcement agency believes there is additional information that was not considered by the end-of-sentence review committee that would either mitigate or aggravate the risk level assigned, the law enforcement agency shall forward that information to the chair of the end-of-sentence review committee for reconsideration at the next committee meeting. Upon reconsideration, the decision of the end-of-sentence review committee shall be final.
     (7) The committee shall issue to appropriate law enforcement agencies, for their use in making public notifications under RCW 4.24.550, narrative notices regarding the pending release of sex offenders from the department's facilities. The narrative notices shall, at a minimum, describe the identity and criminal history behavior of the offender and shall include the department's risk level classification for the offender. For sex offenders classified as either risk level II or III, the narrative notices shall also include the reasons underlying the classification.