CERTIFICATION OF ENROLLMENT

HOUSE BILL 1635

Chapter 305, Laws of 2024

68TH LEGISLATURE

2024 REGULAR SESSION

POLICE DOGS—FENTANYL DETECTION TRAINING AND CIVIL LIABILITY

EFFECTIVE DATE: June 6, 2024

HOUSE BILL 1635

AS AMENDED BY THE SENATE

ByRepresentatives Mosbrucker, Walsh, and Eslick

AN ACT Relating to limiting liability arising from the use of trained police dogs; amending RCW 4.24.410; and adding a new section to chapter 43.101 RCW.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1. A new section is added to chapter 43.101 RCW to read as follows:

By July 1, 2025, the commission shall develop model standards for the training and certification of canine teams to detect fentanyl. When developing the model standards, the commission shall consult with:

(1) Experts including public and private organizations that train canines to imprint on controlled substances;

(2) Law enforcement or correctional agencies that use canines to detect controlled substances;

(3) Experts on the training of canines for use by law enforcement; and

(4) Licensed medical professionals and veterinarians, to the extent reasonably available, with expertise in: (a) Developing and implementing protocols to minimize exposure of canines and their handlers to opioids and their derivatives, including fentanyl and its derivatives; (b) detecting clinical signs of such exposure; and (c) intervening with timely and appropriate medical and veterinary medical treatment in the field, during stabilization and transport, and in-hospital following exposure to opioids and their derivatives, including fentanyl and its derivatives.

Sec. 2. RCW 4.24.410 and 1993 c 180 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) As used in this section:

(a) "Police dog" means a dog used by a law enforcement agency specially trained for law enforcement work and under the control of a dog handler.

(b) "Accelerant detection dog" means a dog used exclusively for accelerant detection by the state fire marshal or a fire department and under the control of the state fire marshal or his or her designee or a fire department handler.

(c) "Dog handler" means a law enforcement officer who has successfully completed training as prescribed by the Washington state criminal justice training commission in police dog handling, or in the case of an accelerant detection dog, the state fire marshal's designee or an employee of the fire department authorized by the fire chief to be the dog's handler.

(2) Any dog handler who uses a police dog in the line of duty in good faith is immune from civil action for damages arising out of such use of the police dog or accelerant detection dog.

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