BILL REQ. #:  H-3658.1 

Read first time 01/28/14.   Referred to Committee on Early Learning & Human Services.

     AN ACT Relating to allowing youthful offenders who complete their sentences prior to age twenty-one equal access to a full continuum of rehabilitative and reentry services; and amending RCW 9.94A.728, 13.40.020, 13.40.110, 72.01.410, and 72.05.020.

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

Sec. 1   RCW 9.94A.728 and 2010 c 224 s 6 are each amended to read as follows:
     No person serving a sentence imposed pursuant to this chapter and committed to the custody of the department shall leave the confines of the correctional facility or be released prior to the expiration of the sentence except as follows:
     (1) An offender may earn early release time as authorized by RCW 9.94A.729;
     (2) An offender may leave a correctional facility pursuant to an authorized furlough or leave of absence. In addition, offenders may leave a correctional facility when in the custody of a corrections officer or officers;
     (3)(a) The secretary may authorize an extraordinary medical placement for an offender when all of the following conditions exist:
     (i) The offender has a medical condition that is serious and is expected to require costly care or treatment;
     (ii) The offender poses a low risk to the community because he or she is currently physically incapacitated due to age or the medical condition or is expected to be so at the time of release; and
     (iii) It is expected that granting the extraordinary medical placement will result in a cost savings to the state.
     (b) An offender sentenced to death or to life imprisonment without the possibility of release or parole is not eligible for an extraordinary medical placement.
     (c) The secretary shall require electronic monitoring for all offenders in extraordinary medical placement unless the electronic monitoring equipment interferes with the function of the offender's medical equipment or results in the loss of funding for the offender's medical care, in which case, an alternative type of monitoring shall be utilized. The secretary shall specify who shall provide the monitoring services and the terms under which the monitoring shall be performed.
     (d) The secretary may revoke an extraordinary medical placement under this subsection at any time.
     (e) Persistent offenders are not eligible for extraordinary medical placement;
     (4) The governor, upon recommendation from the clemency and pardons board, may grant an extraordinary release for reasons of serious health problems, senility, advanced age, extraordinary meritorious acts, or other extraordinary circumstances;
     (5) No more than the final six months of the offender's term of confinement may be served in partial confinement designed to aid the offender in finding work and reestablishing himself or herself in the community or no more than the final twelve months of the offender's term of confinement may be served in partial confinement as part of the parenting program in RCW 9.94A.6551. This is in addition to that period of earned early release time that may be exchanged for partial confinement pursuant to RCW 9.94A.729(5)(d). Offenders residing in a juvenile correctional facility placement pursuant to RCW 72.01.410(1) are not subject to the limitations in this section;
     (6) The governor may pardon any offender;
     (7) The department may release an offender from confinement any time within ten days before a release date calculated under this section;
     (8) An offender may leave a correctional facility prior to completion of his or her sentence if the sentence has been reduced as provided in RCW 9.94A.870; and
     (9) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this section, an offender sentenced for a felony crime listed in RCW 9.94A.540 as subject to a mandatory minimum sentence of total confinement shall not be released from total confinement before the completion of the listed mandatory minimum sentence for that felony crime of conviction unless allowed under RCW 9.94A.540.

Sec. 2   RCW 13.40.020 and 2012 c 201 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
     For the purposes of this chapter:
     (1) "Community-based rehabilitation" means one or more of the following: Employment; attendance of information classes; literacy classes; counseling, outpatient substance abuse treatment programs, outpatient mental health programs, anger management classes, education or outpatient treatment programs to prevent animal cruelty, or other services; or attendance at school or other educational programs appropriate for the juvenile as determined by the school district. Placement in community-based rehabilitation programs is subject to available funds;
     (2) "Community-based sanctions" may include one or more of the following:
     (a) A fine, not to exceed five hundred dollars;
     (b) Community restitution not to exceed one hundred fifty hours of community restitution;
     (3) "Community restitution" means compulsory service, without compensation, performed for the benefit of the community by the offender as punishment for committing an offense. Community restitution may be performed through public or private organizations or through work crews;
     (4) "Community supervision" means an order of disposition by the court of an adjudicated youth not committed to the department or an order granting a deferred disposition. A community supervision order for a single offense may be for a period of up to two years for a sex offense as defined by RCW 9.94A.030 and up to one year for other offenses. As a mandatory condition of any term of community supervision, the court shall order the juvenile to refrain from committing new offenses. As a mandatory condition of community supervision, the court shall order the juvenile to comply with the mandatory school attendance provisions of chapter 28A.225 RCW and to inform the school of the existence of this requirement. Community supervision is an individualized program comprised of one or more of the following:
     (a) Community-based sanctions;
     (b) Community-based rehabilitation;
     (c) Monitoring and reporting requirements;
     (d) Posting of a probation bond;
     (5) "Confinement" means physical custody by the department of social and health services in a facility operated by or pursuant to a contract with the state, or physical custody in a detention facility operated by or pursuant to a contract with any county. The county may operate or contract with vendors to operate county detention facilities. The department may operate or contract to operate detention facilities for juveniles committed to the department. Pretrial confinement or confinement of less than thirty-one days imposed as part of a disposition or modification order may be served consecutively or intermittently, in the discretion of the court;
     (6) "Court," when used without further qualification, means the juvenile court judge(s) or commissioner(s);
     (7) "Criminal history" includes all criminal complaints against the respondent for which, prior to the commission of a current offense:
     (a) The allegations were found correct by a court. If a respondent is convicted of two or more charges arising out of the same course of conduct, only the highest charge from among these shall count as an offense for the purposes of this chapter; or
     (b) The criminal complaint was diverted by a prosecutor pursuant to the provisions of this chapter on agreement of the respondent and after an advisement to the respondent that the criminal complaint would be considered as part of the respondent's criminal history. A successfully completed deferred adjudication that was entered before July 1, 1998, or a deferred disposition shall not be considered part of the respondent's criminal history;
     (8) "Department" means the department of social and health services;
     (9) "Detention facility" means a county facility, paid for by the county, for the physical confinement of a juvenile alleged to have committed an offense or an adjudicated offender subject to a disposition or modification order. "Detention facility" includes county group homes, inpatient substance abuse programs, juvenile basic training camps, and electronic monitoring;
     (10) "Diversion unit" means any probation counselor who enters into a diversion agreement with an alleged youthful offender, or any other person, community accountability board, youth court under the supervision of the juvenile court, or other entity except a law enforcement official or entity, with whom the juvenile court administrator has contracted to arrange and supervise such agreements pursuant to RCW 13.40.080, or any person, community accountability board, or other entity specially funded by the legislature to arrange and supervise diversion agreements in accordance with the requirements of this chapter. For purposes of this subsection, "community accountability board" means a board comprised of members of the local community in which the juvenile offender resides. The superior court shall appoint the members. The boards shall consist of at least three and not more than seven members. If possible, the board should include a variety of representatives from the community, such as a law enforcement officer, teacher or school administrator, high school student, parent, and business owner, and should represent the cultural diversity of the local community;
     (11) "Foster care" means temporary physical care in a foster family home or group care facility as defined in RCW 74.15.020 and licensed by the department, or other legally authorized care;
     (12) "Institution" means a juvenile facility established pursuant to chapters 72.05 and 72.16 through 72.20 RCW;
     (13) "Intensive supervision program" means a parole program that requires intensive supervision and monitoring, offers an array of individualized treatment and transitional services, and emphasizes community involvement and support in order to reduce the likelihood a juvenile offender will commit further offenses;
     (14) "Juvenile," "youth," and "child" mean any individual who is under the chronological age of eighteen years and who has not been previously transferred to adult court pursuant to RCW 13.40.110, unless the individual was convicted of a lesser charge or acquitted of the charge for which he or she was previously transferred pursuant to RCW 13.40.110 or who is not otherwise under adult court jurisdiction, or who is serving an adult sentence with the department of social and health services pursuant to RCW 72.01.410(1);
     (15) "Juvenile offender" means any juvenile who has been found by the juvenile court to have committed an offense, including a person eighteen years of age or older over whom jurisdiction has been extended under RCW 13.40.300, or who is serving an adult sentence with the department of social and health services pursuant to RCW 72.01.410(1);
     (16) "Labor" means the period of time before a birth during which contractions are of sufficient frequency, intensity, and duration to bring about effacement and progressive dilation of the cervix;
     (17) "Local sanctions" means one or more of the following: (a) 0-30 days of confinement; (b) 0-12 months of community supervision; (c) 0-150 hours of community restitution; or (d) $0-$500 fine;
     (18) "Manifest injustice" means a disposition that would either impose an excessive penalty on the juvenile or would impose a serious, and clear danger to society in light of the purposes of this chapter;
     (19) "Monitoring and reporting requirements" means one or more of the following: Curfews; requirements to remain at home, school, work, or court-ordered treatment programs during specified hours; restrictions from leaving or entering specified geographical areas; requirements to report to the probation officer as directed and to remain under the probation officer's supervision; and other conditions or limitations as the court may require which may not include confinement;
     (20) "Offense" means an act designated a violation or a crime if committed by an adult under the law of this state, under any ordinance of any city or county of this state, under any federal law, or under the law of another state if the act occurred in that state;
     (21) "Physical restraint" means the use of any bodily force or physical intervention to control a juvenile offender or limit a juvenile offender's freedom of movement in a way that does not involve a mechanical restraint. Physical restraint does not include momentary periods of minimal physical restriction by direct person-to-person contact, without the aid of mechanical restraint, accomplished with limited force and designed to:
     (a) Prevent a juvenile offender from completing an act that would result in potential bodily harm to self or others or damage property;
     (b) Remove a disruptive juvenile offender who is unwilling to leave the area voluntarily; or
     (c) Guide a juvenile offender from one location to another;
     (22) "Postpartum recovery" means (a) the entire period a woman or youth is in the hospital, birthing center, or clinic after giving birth and (b) an additional time period, if any, a treating physician determines is necessary for healing after the youth leaves the hospital, birthing center, or clinic;
     (23) "Probation bond" means a bond, posted with sufficient security by a surety justified and approved by the court, to secure the offender's appearance at required court proceedings and compliance with court-ordered community supervision or conditions of release ordered pursuant to RCW 13.40.040 or 13.40.050. It also means a deposit of cash or posting of other collateral in lieu of a bond if approved by the court;
     (24) "Respondent" means a juvenile who is alleged or proven to have committed an offense;
     (25) "Restitution" means financial reimbursement by the offender to the victim, and shall be limited to easily ascertainable damages for injury to or loss of property, actual expenses incurred for medical treatment for physical injury to persons, lost wages resulting from physical injury, and costs of the victim's counseling reasonably related to the offense. Restitution shall not include reimbursement for damages for mental anguish, pain and suffering, or other intangible losses. Nothing in this chapter shall limit or replace civil remedies or defenses available to the victim or offender;
     (26) "Restorative justice" means practices, policies, and programs informed by and sensitive to the needs of crime victims that are designed to encourage offenders to accept responsibility for repairing the harm caused by their offense by providing safe and supportive opportunities for voluntary participation and communication between the victim, the offender, their families, and relevant community members;
     (27) "Restraints" means anything used to control the movement of a person's body or limbs and includes:
     (a) Physical restraint; or
     (b) Mechanical device including but not limited to: Metal handcuffs, plastic ties, ankle restraints, leather cuffs, other hospital-type restraints, tasers, or batons;
     (28) "Secretary" means the secretary of the department of social and health services. "Assistant secretary" means the assistant secretary for juvenile rehabilitation for the department;
     (29) "Services" means services which provide alternatives to incarceration for those juveniles who have pleaded or been adjudicated guilty of an offense or have signed a diversion agreement pursuant to this chapter;
     (30) "Sex offense" means an offense defined as a sex offense in RCW 9.94A.030;
     (31) "Sexual motivation" means that one of the purposes for which the respondent committed the offense was for the purpose of his or her sexual gratification;
     (32) "Surety" means an entity licensed under state insurance laws or by the state department of licensing, to write corporate, property, or probation bonds within the state, and justified and approved by the superior court of the county having jurisdiction of the case;
     (33) "Transportation" means the conveying, by any means, of an incarcerated pregnant youth from the institution or detention facility to another location from the moment she leaves the institution or detention facility to the time of arrival at the other location, and includes the escorting of the pregnant incarcerated youth from the institution or detention facility to a transport vehicle and from the vehicle to the other location;
     (34) "Violation" means an act or omission, which if committed by an adult, must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt, and is punishable by sanctions which do not include incarceration;
     (35) "Violent offense" means a violent offense as defined in RCW 9.94A.030;
     (36) "Youth court" means a diversion unit under the supervision of the juvenile court.

Sec. 3   RCW 13.40.110 and 2009 c 454 s 3 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) Discretionary decline hearing - The prosecutor, respondent, or the court on its own motion may, before a hearing on the information on its merits, file a motion requesting the court to transfer the respondent for adult criminal prosecution and the matter shall be set for a hearing on the question of declining jurisdiction.
     (2) Mandatory decline hearing - Unless waived by the court, the parties, and their counsel, a decline hearing shall be held when:
     (a) The respondent is sixteen or seventeen years of age and the information alleges a class A felony or an attempt, solicitation, or conspiracy to commit a class A felony;
     (b) The respondent is seventeen years of age and the information alleges assault in the second degree, extortion in the first degree, indecent liberties, child molestation in the second degree, kidnapping in the second degree, or robbery in the second degree; or
     (c) The information alleges an escape by the respondent and the respondent is serving a minimum juvenile sentence to age twenty-one.
     (3) The court after a decline hearing may order the case transferred for adult criminal prosecution upon a finding that the declination would be in the best interest of the juvenile or the public. The court shall consider the relevant reports, facts, opinions, and arguments presented by the parties and their counsel.
     (4) When the respondent is transferred for criminal prosecution or retained for prosecution in juvenile court, the court shall set forth in writing its finding which shall be supported by relevant facts and opinions produced at the hearing.
     (5) When the respondent is transferred to adult criminal court and is sentenced to a term of confinement the respondent shall be committed to the custody of the department of social and health services until such time as the juvenile completes the ordered term of confinement or arrives at the age of twenty-one years, whereupon the juvenile shall be committed to the custody of the department of corrections.

Sec. 4   RCW 72.01.410 and 2002 c 171 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) Whenever any child under the age of eighteen is convicted in the courts of this state of a crime amounting to a felony, and is committed for a term of confinement ((in a correctional institution wherein adults are confined, the secretary of corrections, after making an independent assessment and evaluation of the child and determining that the needs and correctional goals for the child could better be met by the programs and housing environment provided by the juvenile correctional institution, with the consent of the secretary of social and health services, may transfer such child to a juvenile correctional institution)), that child shall be placed in a facility or institution operated by the department of social and health services for the treatment and rehabilitation of juvenile offenders, or to such other facility or institution as is now, or may hereafter be authorized by law to receive such child, until such time as the child completes the ordered term of confinement or arrives at the age of twenty-one years, whereupon the child shall be ((returned)) transferred to the ((institution of original commitment)) custody of the department of corrections. ((Retention within a juvenile detention facility or return to an adult correctional facility shall regularly be reviewed by the secretary of corrections and the secretary of social and health services with a determination made based on the level of maturity and sophistication of the individual, the behavior and progress while within the juvenile detention facility, security needs, and the program/treatment alternatives which would best prepare the individual for a successful return to the community. Notice of such transfers shall be given to the clerk of the committing court and the parents, guardian, or next of kin of such child, if known.))
     (2) If the child is anticipated to complete his or her sentence before arriving at the age of twenty-one years, the child shall have the same treatment, housing options, transfer, and access to program resources as any other child committed directly to that juvenile correctional facility or institution pursuant to chapter 13.40 RCW.
     (3)(a) Except as provided in (b) and (c) of this subsection, an offender under the age of eighteen who is convicted in adult criminal court and who is ((committed to)) transferred from a juvenile rehabilitation operated facility or institution to serve the remainder of a term of confinement at the department of corrections must be placed in a housing unit, or a portion of a housing unit, that is separated from offenders eighteen years of age or older, until the offender reaches the age of eighteen.
     (b) An offender who reaches eighteen years of age may remain in a housing unit for offenders under the age of eighteen if the secretary of corrections determines that: (i) The offender's needs and the correctional goals for the offender could continue to be better met by the programs and housing environment that is separate from offenders eighteen years of age and older; and (ii) the programs or housing environment for offenders under the age of eighteen will not be substantially affected by the continued placement of the offender in that environment. The offender may remain placed in a housing unit for offenders under the age of eighteen until such time as the secretary of corrections determines that the offender's needs and correctional goals are no longer better met in that environment but in no case past the offender's twenty-first birthday.
     (c) An offender transferred from a juvenile rehabilitation operated facility or institution and under the age of eighteen may be housed in an intensive management unit or administrative segregation unit containing offenders eighteen years of age or older if it is necessary for the safety or security of the offender or staff. In these cases, the offender shall be kept physically separate from other offenders at all times.

Sec. 5   RCW 72.05.020 and 2010 c 181 s 7 are each amended to read as follows:
     As used in this chapter, unless the context requires otherwise:
     (1) "Community facility" means a group care facility operated for the care of juveniles committed to the department under RCW 13.40.185. A county detention facility that houses juveniles committed to the department under RCW 13.40.185 pursuant to a contract with the department is not a community facility.
     (2) "Department" means the department of social and health services.
     (3) "Juvenile" means a person under the age of twenty-one who has been sentenced to a term of confinement under the supervision of the department under RCW 13.40.185, or who is serving an adult sentence with the department of social and health services pursuant to RCW 72.01.410(1).
     (4) "Labor" means the period of time before a birth during which contractions are of sufficient frequency, intensity, and duration to bring about effacement and progressive dilation of the cervix.
     (5) "Physical restraint" means the use of any bodily force or physical intervention to control an offender or limit a juvenile offender's freedom of movement in a way that does not involve a mechanical restraint. Physical restraint does not include momentary periods of minimal physical restriction by direct person-to-person contact, without the aid of mechanical restraint, accomplished with limited force and designed to:
     (a) Prevent a juvenile offender from completing an act that would result in potential bodily harm to self or others or damage property;
     (b) Remove a disruptive juvenile offender who is unwilling to leave the area voluntarily; or
     (c) Guide a juvenile offender from one location to another.
     (6) "Postpartum recovery" means (a) the entire period a youth is in the hospital, birthing center, or clinic after giving birth and (b) an additional time period, if any, a treating physician determines is necessary for healing after the youth leaves the hospital, birthing center, or clinic.
     (7) "Restraints" means anything used to control the movement of a person's body or limbs and includes:
     (a) Physical restraint; or
     (b) Mechanical device including but not limited to: Metal handcuffs, plastic ties, ankle restraints, leather cuffs, other hospital-type restraints, tasers, or batons.
     (8) "Service provider" means the entity that operates a community facility.
     (9) "Transportation" means the conveying, by any means, of an incarcerated pregnant woman or youth from the institution or community facility to another location from the moment she leaves the institution or community facility to the time of arrival at the other location, and includes the escorting of the pregnant incarcerated woman or youth from the institution or community facility to a transport vehicle and from the vehicle to the other location.