BILL REQ. #:  S-4250.3 

Read first time 01/16/08.   Referred to Committee on Human Services & Corrections.

     AN ACT Relating to moral guidance of incarcerated persons; amending RCW 72.01.210, 4.92.060, 4.92.070, and 4.92.075; adding new sections to chapter 72.10 RCW; and creating new sections.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   The legislature finds that men and women who are incarcerated have differing abilities to understand the financial and emotional cost and other difficulties faced by the victims that they have created. Many incarcerated men and women will be offered services aimed at preparing them for successful reentry to Washington communities. Still, it is critical that incarcerated persons understand the basis for their negative behaviors and have the opportunity to develop pro-social behaviors such as honest, caring, responsible, open-minded, willing, and humble ways of thinking and believing. These behaviors will better enable these men and women to fully participate in society and adhere to law-abiding behaviors, such as continuing treatment that is undertaken in prison, once the person is released in the community.
     Living in an environment where foundational skills are modeled and encouraged fosters positive outcomes for people who have been convicted and sentenced for their crimes. Basic skills include positive decision making, personal responsibility, building a healthy community, religious tolerance and understanding, ethics and morality, conflict management, family life relationships, leadership, managing emotions, restorative justice, transitional issues, and spirituality. Learning and practicing how to overcome minor and significant obstacles in a positive way will prepare offenders who are returning to our communities to begin their new crime-free lives.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   (1) The department of corrections shall establish an oversight committee to develop a comprehensive interagency plan to provide voluntary, nondenominational moral and character-building residential services and supports for offenders who are incarcerated in prison.
     (2) The interagency plan shall include the following:
     (a) Identification of existing state services and programs, as well as recognized community-based services and programs, for building moral character for those who are incarcerated;
     (b) Identification of methods to improve collaboration and coordination of existing services and the community-based services and programs;
     (c) Recommendations concerning new services and programs for adults who are incarcerated, involving both interagency and community-based efforts;
     (d) Identification of evidence-based practices and areas for further research to support the long-term provision of moral and character-building services and programs for adults who are incarcerated, including the following:
     (i) Identification and ongoing collection of data to the extent permissible under state and federal law relating to incarcerated individuals in the state who were in a foster care system as a minor, who have been in a state-funded mental health system or chemical abuse system, who have poor academic achievement, who were incarcerated in a juvenile rehabilitation system, who were subject to child abuse and neglect services, who have children under eighteen years of age; and
     (ii) Identification and sharing of information relating to men and women incarcerated in prison who have children under eighteen years of age;
     (iii) Identification and sharing of information about evidence-based or evaluated ongoing moral and character-building programs operating in other states serving both men and women who are incarcerated;
     (e) A plan for offering both nondenominational and secular programming; and
     (f) A system to prevent the diversion of public funds to religious activities.
     (3) The oversight committee shall include the following:
     (a) Representatives with decision-making authority from: The department of corrections; the department of social and health services; the Washington association of sheriffs and police chiefs; county law and justice councils; county community transition coordination networks; specialized county courts such as those addressing child dependency, drug, mental health, and domestic violence related crimes; prosecuting attorneys and public defenders; representatives of at least three faith-based organizations that work primarily in the prisons and at least three faith-based organizations that work primarily with offenders in the community; the religious program manager employed by the department of corrections; one institutional staff chaplain employed by the department of corrections; three chaplains: (i) One of whom volunteers in the institution, (ii) one of whom contracts with the department of corrections, and (iii) one of whom is a Native American program specialist with the department of corrections to serve those who are incarcerated; and six representatives from secular organizations in the private and public sectors that have evidence-based expertise in character and moral skills building, education, and residential programming;
     (b) Two persons representing victims of crimes and their family members and friends;
     (c) One former inmate of the state department of corrections; and
     (d) One individual representing families of inmates who are incarcerated in state correctional institutions.
     (4) In developing the interagency plan, the oversight committee shall seek input on moral and character-based residential programs in our state's adult correctional facilities from the public, including faith-based communities, state institutions of higher education, and the business community.
     (5) The oversight committee shall develop the interagency plan by June 30, 2010, with an interim report due to the appropriate committees of the legislature by January 1, 2009.

Sec. 3   RCW 72.01.210 and 1993 c 281 s 62 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) The secretary of corrections shall appoint ((chaplains for the state correctional institutions for convicted felons; and the)), employ, or contract with at least:
     (a) One full-time institutional chaplain for each state correctional institution, camp, or other total confinement unit housing more than two hundred fifty but less than six hundred inmates;
     (b) One full-time institutional chaplain and one half-time institutional chaplain for each state correctional institution, camp, or other total confinement unit housing at least six hundred but less than one thousand inmates;
     (c) Two full-time institutional chaplains for each state correctional institution, camp, or other total confinement unit housing at least one thousand inmates but less than two thousand inmates; and
     (d) Three full-time institutional chaplains for each state correctional institution, camp, or other total confinement unit housing at least two thousand inmates but less than three thousand inmates.
     (2) An institutional chaplain may provide religious services or related duties to inmates in additional facilities in the geographic area if the number of inmates does not exceed six hundred.
     (3) If there are insufficient volunteer chaplains available, the department of corrections must hire a sufficient number of contract chaplains to minister to inmates of their own faiths or denominations.
     (4) The secretary of social and health services shall appoint chaplains for the correctional institutions for juveniles found delinquent by the juvenile courts; and the secretary of corrections and the secretary of social and health services shall appoint one or more chaplains for other custodial, correctional, and mental institutions under their control. The chaplains so appointed shall have the qualifications and shall be compensated in an amount, as shall hereafter be recommended by the department and approved by the Washington personnel resources board.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 4   A new section is added to chapter 72.10 RCW to read as follows:
     A chaplain who has been appointed, contracted with, or been employed by the department of corrections to provide the services authorized by RCW 72.01.220 is immune from civil liability arising from the provision of those services, unless it is shown that the chaplain acted with gross negligence.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 5   A new section is added to chapter 72.10 RCW to read as follows:
     The department of corrections may not compel a chaplain who provides the services authorized by RCW 72.01.220 to carry personal liability insurance as a condition of employment, whether that chaplain serves by appointment, by contract, or by employment.

Sec. 6   RCW 4.92.060 and 1989 c 403 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:
     Whenever an action or proceeding for damages shall be instituted against any state officer, including state elected officials, employee, contract employee, appointment, volunteer, or foster parent licensed in accordance with chapter 74.15 RCW, arising from acts or omissions while performing, or in good faith purporting to perform, official duties, or, in the case of a foster parent, arising from the good faith provision of foster care services, such officer, employee, contract employee, appointment, volunteer, or foster parent may request the attorney general to authorize the defense of said action or proceeding at the expense of the state.

Sec. 7   RCW 4.92.070 and 1999 c 163 s 5 are each amended to read as follows:
     If the attorney general shall find that said officer, employee, or volunteer's acts or omissions were, or were purported to be in good faith, within the scope of that person's official duties, or, in the case of a foster parent, that the occurrence arose from the good faith provision of foster care services, said request shall be granted, in which event the necessary expenses of the defense of said action or proceeding relating to a state officer, employee, contract employee, appointment, or volunteer shall be paid as provided in RCW 4.92.130. In the case of a foster parent, necessary expenses of the defense shall be paid from the appropriations made for the support of the department to which such foster parent is attached. In such cases the attorney general shall appear and defend such officer, employee, contract employee, appointment, volunteer, or foster parent, who shall assist and cooperate in the defense of such suit. However, the attorney general may not represent or provide private representation for a foster parent in an action or proceeding brought by the department of social and health services against that foster parent.

Sec. 8   RCW 4.92.075 and 1989 c 413 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:
     When a state officer, employee, contract employee, appointment, or volunteer has been represented by the attorney general pursuant to RCW 4.92.070, and the body presiding over the action or proceeding has found that the officer, employee, contract employee, appointment, or volunteer was acting within the scope of his or her official duties, and a judgment has been entered against the officer, employee, contract employee, appointment, or volunteer pursuant to chapter 4.92 RCW or 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1981 et seq., thereafter the judgment creditor shall seek satisfaction only from the state, and the judgment shall not become a lien upon any property of such officer, employee, contract employee, appointment, or volunteer.