READ FIRST TIME 02/15/11.   

     AN ACT Relating to the conditional release of persons committed as criminally insane to their county of origin; and adding a new section to chapter 10.77 RCW.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   A new section is added to chapter 10.77 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) In determining whether to support an application for conditional release on behalf of a person committed as criminally insane which would permit the person to reside outside of a state hospital, the secretary may not support a conditional release application to a location outside the person's county of origin unless it is determined by the secretary that the person's return to his or her county of origin would be inappropriate considering any court-issued protection orders, victim safety concerns, the availability of appropriate treatment, negative influences on the person, or the location of family or other persons or organizations offering support to the person. When the department assists in developing a placement under this section which is outside of the county of origin, and there are two or more options for placement, it shall endeavor to develop the placement in a manner that does not have a disproportionate effect on a single county.
     (2) If the committed person is not conditionally released to his or her county of origin, the department shall provide the law and justice council of the county in which the person is conditionally released with a written explanation.
     (3) For purposes of this section, the offender's county of origin means the county of the court which ordered the person's commitment.