FINAL BILL REPORT

SSB 5204

This analysis was prepared by non-partisan legislative staff for the use of legislative members in their deliberations. This analysis is not a part of the legislation nor does it constitute a statement of legislative intent.

C 338 L 11

Synopsis as Enacted

Brief Description: Concerning juveniles who have been adjudicated of a sex offense.

Sponsors: Senate Committee on Human Services & Corrections (originally sponsored by Senators Regala, Hargrove and Stevens).

Senate Committee on Human Services & Corrections

House Committee on Early Learning & Human Services

House Committee on Ways & Means

Background: Juvenile Duty to Register & Relief from Registration. In Washington State, a juvenile who is adjudicated of a sex or kidnapping offense has the same duty to register as an adult offender, regardless of the person's age at the time of offense. If the juvenile is under the custody of the Juvenile Rehabilitation Administration, the End of Sentence Review Committee with the Department of Corrections will review the person's file and assign an initial risk classification. If the juvenile is on probation at the county level or serving a sentence under a Special Sex Offender Disposition Alternative (SSODA), the juvenile's initial risk classification will be assigned by the county sheriff.

A person who has a duty to register for a sex or kidnapping offense committed when the person was a juvenile may be relieved of the duty to register if:

In general legal terms, clear and convincing is a higher standard of proof than a preponderance of the evidence. Preponderance of the evidence is met if the proposition is more likely to be true than not true. Effectively, the standard is satisfied if there is a greater than 50 percent chance that the proposition is true. Clear and convincing means that it is substantially more likely than not that the thing is in fact true. Beyond a reasonable doubt would be further along the continuum, requiring that the trier of fact be close to certain of the truth of the matter asserted.

In 2008 the Legislature created the Sex Offender Policy Board (Board) to promote a coordinated and integrated response to sex offender management. One of the first tasks assigned to the Board, through 2SHB 2714 (2008), was to review Washington's sex offender registration and notification laws. Soon after its inception, the Board created a subcommittee to address issues specifically related to juveniles who have been adjudicated of a sex offense.

In response to recommendations from the Board, the Legislature modified provisions for a juvenile to petition for relief from registration. Specifically, the Legislature clarified that a juvenile would not be precluded from petitioning for relief if they juvenile had committed only one failure to register. The Legislature also adopted 12 specific factors for the court to review in determining whether to relieve the person from the duty to register. Those factors include the nature of the offense, subsequent criminal history, the person's participation in treatment and rehabilitative programs, input from the victim, and an updated polygraph examination.

Sealing of Juvenile Records. Upon motion to the court, the court may seal the records of a juvenile if:

  1. there is no proceeding pending against the moving party seeking his or her conviction for a juvenile or criminal offense;

  2. there is no proceeding pending seeking the formation of a diversion agreement with that person;

  3. full restitution has been paid;

  4. the person has not been convicted of a sex offense; and

  5. the following time periods have passed since the last date of release from confinement, full-time residential treatment, or entry of disposition in the community without being convicted of any offense or crime:

    1. class A felony – five years;

    2. class B or C felony, gross misdemeanor and misdemeanor offenses and diversions two years.

Any adjudication of a juvenile offense or a crime subsequent to sealing has the effect of nullifying the sealing order.

Registered Persons Who Attend School. In May of 2010, a student in a Seattle school was sexually assaulted by another student who was a registered juvenile sex offender. In response to that incident, legislators asked the Board to study existing laws regarding juvenile sex offenders and school notification. The Board came to several consensus recommendations, including requiring:

A person who is required to register must give notice to the county sheriff within three days prior to arriving at a school or institution of higher education to attend classes, prior to starting work at an institution of higher education, and after any termination of enrollment or employment at a school or institution. The sheriff is in turn required to notify the school's principal or institution's department of public safety. If the student is a risk level II or III, the principal must provide information about the student to every teacher of the student and any other personnel who, in the judgment of the principal, supervises the student or for security purposes, should be aware of the student's record. If the student is a risk level I, information may only be released to personnel who, in the judgment of the principal, should be aware of the student's record.

In 2006 the legislature required the Office of the Superintendant of Public Instruction (OSPI) to convene a workgroup to draft a model policy for school principals to follow when they receive notification from law enforcement that a registered sex/kidnapping offender is attending or is expecting to attend the school (SB 6580). The model policy was created and provides the intended direction. However, schools and school districts are not mandated to adopt the policy or implement safety plans for these students and consequently there is not consistent approach throughout the state.

Summary: A person who has a duty to register for a Class A kidnapping or sex offense committed as a juvenile, age 15 or older, must have spent at least 60 months in the community with no new sex or kidnapping offense before the person may petition to be relieved of the duty to register. Any other person who has a duty to register for a sex or kidnapping offense committed when the person was a juvenile must have spent at least 24 months in the community with no new sex or kidnapping offense before the person may petition to be relieved of the duty to register. In order to be relieved, the person must show by a preponderance of the evidence that he or she is sufficiently rehabilitated to warrant removal from the registration system. This burden of proof applies regardless if the person was under or over the age of 15 at the time of the offense.

A person who committed a sex offense as a juvenile and who has been relieved of the duty to register or whose duty to register has ended, may have his or her records sealed in the same manner and under the same conditions as other offenses unless the person was adjudicated of rape in the first degree, rape in the second degree, or indecent liberties that was actually committed with forcible compulsion.

If the court orders 24 hour continuous monitoring of an offender who is awarded a SSODA, the court must include the basis of this condition in its findings. The ESRC must assign the initial risk classification for juveniles under the jurisdiction of the county juvenile court and juveniles supervised from out-of-state under the interstate compact for juveniles.

The Superintendent of Public Instruction must publish a revised and updated sample policy for schools to follow regarding students required to register as sex or kidnapping offenders.

Votes on Final Passage:

Senate

30

18

House

97

0

(House amended)

Senate

25

20

(Senate concurred)

Effective:

July 22, 2011.