DOC discipline

AN ACT Relating to establishing uniform policies and procedures 1
within department of corrections facilities relating to disciplinary 2
proceedings and administrative segregation; amending RCW 72.09.015; 3
and adding new sections to chapter 72.09 RCW. 4
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:5
Sec. 1. RCW 72.09.015 and 2022 c 254 s 2 are each amended to 6
read as follows: 7
The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter.8
(1) "Adult basic education" means education or instruction 9
designed to achieve general competence of skills in reading, writing, 10
and oral communication, including English as a second language and 11
preparation and testing services for obtaining a high school diploma 12
or a high school equivalency certificate as provided in RCW 13
28B.50.536. 14
(2) "Base level of correctional services" means the minimum level 15
of field services the department of corrections is required by 16
statute to provide for the supervision and monitoring of 17
((offenders)) incarcerated individuals. 18
(3) "Civil judgment for assault" means a civil judgment for 19
monetary damages awarded to a correctional officer or department 20
employee entered by a court of competent jurisdiction against an 21
H-0115.1
HOUSE BILL 1137
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2025 Regular Session
By Representatives Peterson, Gregerson, Berry, Alvarado, Macri,
Cortes, Callan, Ryu, Farivar, Doglio, Ortiz-Self, Simmons, Street,
Pollet, Kloba, Nance, Berg, Ormsby, Lekanoff, and Hill
Prefiled 12/27/24. Read first time 01/13/25. Referred to Committee
on Community Safety.
p. 1 HB 1137
inmate that is based on, or arises from, injury to the correctional 1
officer or department employee caused by the inmate while the 2
correctional officer or department employee was acting in the course 3
and scope of his or her employment. 4
(4) "Community custody" has the same meaning as that provided in 5
RCW 9.94A.030 and also includes community placement and community 6
supervision as defined in RCW 9.94B.020. 7
(5) "Contraband" means any object or communication the secretary 8
determines shall not be allowed to be: (a) Brought into; (b) 9
possessed while on the grounds of; or (c) sent from any institution 10
under the control of the secretary. 11
(6) "Correctional facility" means a facility or institution 12
operated directly or by contract by the secretary for the purposes of 13
incarcerating adults in total or partial confinement, as defined in 14
RCW 9.94A.030. 15
(7) "County" means a county or combination of counties.16
(8) "Department" means the department of corrections.17
(9) "Earned early release" means earned release as authorized by 18
RCW 9.94A.729. 19
(10) "Evidence-based" means a program or practice that has had 20
multiple-site random controlled trials across heterogeneous 21
populations demonstrating that the program or practice is effective 22
in reducing recidivism for the population. 23
(11) "Extended family visit" means an authorized visit between an 24
inmate and a member of his or her immediate family that occurs in a 25
private visiting unit located at the correctional facility where the 26
inmate is confined. 27
(12) "Good conduct" means compliance with department rules and 28
policies. 29
(13) "Good performance" means successful completion of a program 30
required by the department, including an education, work, or other 31
program. 32
(14) "Immediate family" means the inmate's children, 33
stepchildren, grandchildren, great grandchildren, parents, 34
stepparents, grandparents, great grandparents, siblings, aunts, 35
uncles, and a person legally married to or in a state registered 36
domestic partnership with an inmate. "Immediate family" includes the 37
immediate family of an inmate who was adopted as a child or an adult, 38
but does not include an inmate adopted by another inmate.39
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(15) "Indigent inmate," "indigent," and "indigency" mean an 1
inmate who has less than a $25 balance of disposable income in his or 2
her institutional account on the day a request is made to utilize 3
funds and during the 30 days previous to the request.4
(16) "Individual reentry plan" means the plan to prepare an 5
((offender)) incarcerated person for release into the community. It 6
should be developed collaboratively between the department and the 7
((offender)) incarcerated person and based on an assessment of the 8
((offender)) person using a standardized and comprehensive tool to 9
identify the ((offender's)) person's risks and needs. The individual 10
reentry plan describes actions that should occur to prepare 11
individual ((offenders)) incarcerated persons for release from prison 12
or jail, specifies the supervision and services they will experience 13
in the community, and describes ((an offender's)) a person's eventual 14
discharge to aftercare upon successful completion of supervision. An 15
individual reentry plan is updated throughout the period of ((an 16
offender's)) a person's incarceration and supervision to be relevant 17
to the ((offender's)) person's current needs and risks.18
(17) "Inmate" ((means)) and "incarcerated person" mean a person 19
committed to the custody of the department, including but not limited 20
to persons residing in a correctional institution or facility and 21
persons released from such facility on furlough, work release, or 22
community custody, and persons received from another state, state 23
agency, county, federally recognized tribe, or federal jurisdiction.24
(18) "Labor" means the period of time before a birth during which 25
contractions are of sufficient frequency, intensity, and duration to 26
bring about effacement and progressive dilation of the cervix.27
(19) "Physical restraint" means the use of any bodily force or 28
physical intervention to control an ((offender)) incarcerated person 29
or limit an ((offender's)) incarcerated person's freedom of movement 30
in a way that does not involve a mechanical restraint. Physical 31
restraint does not include momentary periods of minimal physical 32
restriction by direct person-to-person contact, without the aid of 33
mechanical restraint, accomplished with limited force and designed 34
to: 35
(a) Prevent an ((offender)) incarcerated person from completing 36
an act that would result in potential bodily harm to self or others 37
or damage property; 38
(b) Remove a disruptive ((offender)) incarcerated person who is 39
unwilling to leave the area voluntarily; or 40
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(c) Guide an ((offender)) incarcerated person from one location 1
to another. 2
(20) "Postpartum recovery" means (a) the entire period a ((woman 3
or youth )) person is in the hospital, birthing center, or clinic 4
after giving birth and (b) an additional time period, if any, a 5
treating physician or certified nurse midwife determines is necessary 6
for healing after the ((woman or youth )) person leaves the hospital, 7
birthing center, or clinic. 8
(21) "Privilege" means any goods or services, education or work 9
programs, or earned early release days, the receipt of which are 10
directly linked to an inmate's (a) good conduct; and (b) good 11
performance. Privileges do not include any goods or services the 12
department is required to provide under the state or federal 13
Constitution or under state or federal law. 14
(22) "Promising practice" means a practice that presents, based 15
on preliminary information, potential for becoming a research -based 16
or consensus-based practice. 17
(23) "Research-based" means a program or practice that has some 18
research demonstrating effectiveness, but that does not yet meet the 19
standard of evidence-based practices. 20
(24) "Restraints" means anything used to control the movement of 21
a person's body or limbs and includes: 22
(a) Physical restraint; or 23
(b) Mechanical device including but not limited to: Metal 24
handcuffs, plastic ties, ankle restraints, leather cuffs, other 25
hospital-type restraints, tasers, or batons. 26
(25) "Secretary" means the secretary of corrections or his or her 27
designee. 28
(26) "Significant expansion" includes any expansion into a new 29
product line or service to the class I business that results from an 30
increase in benefits provided by the department, including a decrease 31
in labor costs, rent, or utility rates (for water, sewer, 32
electricity, and disposal), an increase in work program space, tax 33
advantages, or other overhead costs. 34
(27) "Superintendent" means the superintendent of a correctional 35
facility under the jurisdiction of the Washington state department of 36
corrections, or his or her designee. 37
(28) "Transportation" means the conveying, by any means, of an 38
incarcerated pregnant ((woman or youth)) person from the correctional 39
facility to another location from the moment ((she)) the person 40
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leaves the correctional facility to the time of arrival at the other 1
location, and includes the escorting of the pregnant incarcerated 2
((woman or youth )) person from the correctional facility to a 3
transport vehicle and from the vehicle to the other location.4
(29) "Unfair competition" means any net competitive advantage 5
that a business may acquire as a result of a correctional industries 6
contract, including labor costs, rent, tax advantages, utility rates 7
(water, sewer, electricity, and disposal), and other overhead costs. 8
To determine net competitive advantage, the department of corrections 9
shall review and quantify any expenses unique to operating a for-10
profit business inside a prison. 11
(30) "Vocational training" or "vocational education" means 12
"vocational education" as defined in RCW 72.62.020.13
(31) "Washington business" means an in-state manufacturer or 14
service provider subject to chapter 82.04 RCW existing on June 10, 15
2004. 16
(32) "Work programs" means all classes of correctional industries 17
jobs authorized under RCW 72.09.100. 18
(33) "Administrative segregation" means the temporary removal 19
from the general population of an incarcerated person who is deemed 20
to present a threat to the safety and security of staff, the 21
incarcerated population, or the community, until a timely and 22
informed decision can be made about appropriate housing based on the 23
incarcerated person's circumstance.24
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. A new section is added to chapter 72.09 25
RCW to read as follows: 26
(1) The circumstances warranting administrative segregation 27
include the following: 28
(a) Escape or attempted escape; 29
(b) Arson or attempted arson; 30
(c) Serious assault or attempted serious assault;31
(d) Creating or participating in a major disturbance in which 32
assaults occurred or were attempted; 33
(e) Reliable and specific intelligence that one of these events 34
is likely and imminent unless particular individuals are removed from 35
the general population; and 36
(f) Protective custody. 37
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(2) Medical necessity may justify placing an individual 1
temporarily in close observation areas or infirmaries under medical 2
supervision but does not justify administrative segregation status.3
(3) Administrative segregation may not exceed 15 days unless a 4
request for exception is reviewed and approved by the superintendent 5
or designee. 6
(a) Extensions beyond 30 days require authorization by the deputy 7
secretary, and extensions beyond 45 days require authorization by the 8
secretary. 9
(b) The department must notify the office of the corrections 10
ombuds in writing any time a person has remained on administrative 11
segregation for more than 45 consecutive days. 12
(4) An incarcerated person may not lose housing, education, or 13
work assignments, or other programming assignments solely due to 14
placement on administrative segregation unless documented 15
institutional needs require such removal or change.16
NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. A new section is added to chapter 72.09 17
RCW to read as follows: 18
(1) An incarcerated person is presumed innocent of an infraction 19
or alleged rule violation and the facility has the burden of 20
establishing by a preponderance of the evidence that the alleged 21
conduct occurred. 22
(2) In a disciplinary hearing, the hearing officer must 23
articulate what evidence supports the officer's finding, and a 24
summary of the facts and evidence supporting the decision must be 25
recorded in the disciplinary hearing minutes and findings or other 26
similar form. 27
(3) For the purpose of this section, "preponderance of the 28
evidence" means the greater weight of credible evidence, not 29
necessarily established by the amount of evidence or number of 30
witnesses, but by that evidence that has the most indicia of 31
reliability and convincing force. 32
--- END ---
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