Background checks

AN ACT Relating to the fingerprint background check on national 1
child protection act and volunteers for children's act program; 2
amending RCW 43.43.830; and adding a new section to chapter 43.43 3
RCW. 4
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:5
Sec. 1. RCW 43.43.830 and 2019 c 271 s 10 are each amended to 6
read as follows: 7
Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, the definitions in 8
this section apply throughout ((RCW 43.43.830)) this section and RCW 9
43.43.832 through 43.43.845. 10
(1) "Agency" means any person, firm, partnership, association, 11
corporation, or facility which receives, provides services to, houses 12
or otherwise cares for vulnerable adults, juveniles, or children, or 13
which provides child day care, early learning, or early childhood 14
education services. 15
(2) "Applicant" means: 16
(a) Any prospective employee , volunteer, or contractor who will 17
or may have supervised or unsupervised access to children ((under 18
sixteen years of age or developmentally disabled persons or 19
vulnerable adults during the course of his or her employment or 20
involvement with )), the elderly, or individuals with disabilities 21
Z-0201.1
HOUSE BILL 1385
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2025 Regular Session
By Representatives Taylor, Burnett, Leavitt, Ley, Davis, Reeves,
Obras, Salahuddin, and Wylie; by request of Washington State Patrol
Read first time 01/20/25. Referred to Committee on Community Safety.
p. 1 HB 1385
during the course of his or her employment or involvement with the 1
business or organization; 2
(b) Any prospective volunteer who will have regularly scheduled 3
unsupervised access to children under sixteen years of age, 4
developmentally disabled persons, or vulnerable adults during the 5
course of his or her employment or involvement with the business or 6
organization under circumstances where such access will or may 7
involve groups of (i) five or fewer children under twelve years of 8
age, (ii) three or fewer children between twelve and sixteen years of 9
age, (iii) developmentally disabled persons, or (iv) vulnerable 10
adults; 11
(c) Any prospective adoptive parent, as defined in RCW 26.33.020; 12
or 13
(d) Any prospective custodian in a nonparental custody proceeding 14
under chapter 26.10 RCW. 15
(3) "Business or organization" means a person, business, or 16
organization licensed in this state, any agency of the state, or 17
other governmental entity, that educates, trains, treats, supervises, 18
houses, or provides recreation to developmentally disabled persons, 19
vulnerable adults, or children under sixteen years of age, or that 20
provides child day care, early learning, or early learning childhood 21
education services, including but not limited to public housing 22
authorities, school districts, and educational service districts.23
(4) "Care" means the provision of care, treatment, education, 24
training, instruction, supervision, or recreation to children, 25
elderly, or individuals with disabilities.26
(5) "Civil adjudication proceeding" is a judicial or 27
administrative adjudicative proceeding that results in a finding of, 28
or upholds an agency finding of, domestic violence, abuse, sexual 29
abuse, neglect, abandonment, violation of a professional licensing 30
standard regarding a child or vulnerable adult, or exploitation or 31
financial exploitation of a child or vulnerable adult under any 32
provision of law, including but not limited to chapter 13.34, 26.44, 33
or 74.34 RCW, or rules adopted under chapters 18.51 and 74.42 RCW. 34
"Civil adjudication proceeding" also includes judicial or 35
administrative findings that become final due to the failure of the 36
alleged perpetrator to timely exercise a legal right to 37
administratively challenge such findings. 38
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(((5))) (6) "Client" or "resident" means a child, person with 1
developmental disabilities, or vulnerable adult applying for housing 2
assistance from a business or organization. 3
(((6))) (7) "Conviction record" means "conviction record" 4
information as defined in RCW 10.97.030 and 10.97.050 relating to a 5
crime committed by either an adult or a juvenile. It does not include 6
a conviction for an offense that has been the subject of an 7
expungement, pardon, annulment, certificate of rehabilitation, or 8
other equivalent procedure based on a finding of the rehabilitation 9
of the person convicted, or a conviction that has been the subject of 10
a pardon, annulment, or other equivalent procedure based on a finding 11
of innocence. It does include convictions for offenses for which the 12
defendant received a deferred or suspended sentence, unless the 13
record has been expunged according to law. 14
(((7))) (8) "Covered individual" is an individual who has, seeks 15
to have, or may have access to children, the elderly, or individuals 16
with disabilities, served by a qualified entity; and who is employed 17
by or volunteers with, or seeks to volunteer with a qualified entity; 18
or owns or operates or seeks to own or operate, a qualified entity.19
(9) "Crime against children or other persons" means a conviction 20
of any of the following offenses: Aggravated murder; first or second 21
degree murder; first or second degree kidnapping; first, second, or 22
third degree assault; fourth degree assault (if a violation of RCW 23
9A.36.041(3)); first, second, or third degree assault of a child; 24
first, second, or third degree rape; first, second, or third degree 25
rape of a child; first or second degree robbery; first degree arson; 26
first degree burglary; first or second degree manslaughter; first or 27
second degree extortion; indecent liberties; incest; vehicular 28
homicide; first degree promoting prostitution; communication with a 29
minor; unlawful imprisonment; simple assault; sexual exploitation of 30
minors; first or second degree criminal mistreatment; endangerment 31
with a controlled substance; child abuse or neglect as defined in RCW 32
26.44.020; first or second degree custodial interference; first or 33
second degree custodial sexual misconduct; hate crime; first, second, 34
or third degree child molestation; first or second degree sexual 35
misconduct with a minor; commercial sexual abuse of a minor; child 36
abandonment; promoting pornography; selling or distributing erotic 37
material to a minor; custodial assault; violation of child abuse 38
restraining order; child buying or selling; prostitution; felony 39
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indecent exposure; criminal abandonment; or any of these crimes as 1
they may be renamed in the future. 2
(((8))) (10) "Crimes relating to drugs" means a conviction of a 3
crime to manufacture, delivery, or possession with intent to 4
manufacture or deliver a controlled substance. 5
(((9))) (11) "Crimes relating to financial exploitation" means a 6
conviction for first, second, or third degree extortion; first, 7
second, or third degree theft; first or second degree robbery; 8
forgery; or any of these crimes as they may be renamed in the future.9
(((10))) (12) "Financial exploitation" means "financial 10
exploitation" as defined in RCW 74.34.020. 11
(((11))) (13) "Health care facility" means a nursing home 12
licensed under chapter 18.51 RCW, an assisted living facility 13
licensed under chapter 18.20 RCW, or an adult family home licensed 14
under chapter 70.128 RCW. 15
(((12))) (14) "Peer counselor" means a nonprofessional person who 16
has equal standing with another person, providing advice on a topic 17
about which the nonprofessional person is more experienced or 18
knowledgeable, and who is a counselor for a peer counseling program 19
that contracts with or is otherwise approved by the department, 20
another state or local agency, or the court. 21
(((13))) (15) "Qualified entity" means a business or 22
organization, whether public, private, for profit, not for profit, or 23
voluntary, that provides care or care placement services, including a 24
business or organization that licenses or certifies others to provide 25
care or care placement services.26
(16) "Unsupervised" means not in the presence of:27
(a) Another employee or volunteer from the same business or 28
organization as the applicant; or 29
(b) Any relative or guardian of any of the children ((or 30
developmentally disabled persons or vulnerable adults )), the elderly, 31
or individuals with disabilities to which the applicant has access 32
during the course of his or her employment or involvement with the 33
qualified entity, business, or organization. 34
With regard to peer counselors, "unsupervised" does not include 35
incidental contact with children under age sixteen at the location at 36
which the peer counseling is taking place. "Incidental contact" means 37
minor or casual contact with a child in an area accessible to and 38
within visual or auditory range of others. It could include passing a 39
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child while walking down a hallway but would not include being alone 1
with a child for any period of time in a closed room or office.2
(((14))) (17) "Vulnerable adult" means "vulnerable adult" as 3
defined in chapter 74.34 RCW, except that for the purposes of 4
requesting and receiving background checks pursuant to RCW 43.43.832, 5
it shall also include adults of any age who lack the functional, 6
mental, or physical ability to care for themselves.7
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. A new section is added to chapter 43.43 8
RCW to read as follows: 9
(1) In order to facilitate the authorized interstate exchange of 10
criminal history information for noncriminal justice purposes 11
including, but not limited to, background checks for the licensing 12
and screening of employees and volunteers under the national child 13
protection act of 1993, as amended, and to implement the national 14
crime prevention and privacy compact, 34 U.S.C. Sec. 40102, the 15
Washington state patrol shall execute the compact on behalf of the 16
state. 17
(2) The Washington state patrol is the repository of criminal 18
history records for purposes of the compact and shall do all things 19
necessary or incidental to carrying out the compact.20
(3) The chief, or the chief's designee, is the state's compact 21
officer and shall administer the compact within the state. The 22
Washington state patrol may establish procedures for the cooperative 23
exchange of criminal history records between the state and federal 24
government for use in noncriminal justice cases. 25
(4) The state's ratification of the compact remains in effect 26
until legislation is enacted which specifically renounces the 27
compact. 28
(5) Authorized qualified entities and federally recognized tribes 29
are authorized to conduct a state and national fingerprint-based 30
criminal history record check on applicants for noncriminal justice 31
purposes for any employment, licensing, or volunteering purpose which 32
provide care, treatment, education, training, instruction, 33
supervision, or recreation to children, the elderly, or individuals 34
with disabilities. 35
(6) The Washington state patrol may charge a nonrefundable fee 36
for submission of fingerprints which will cover as nearly as 37
practicable the direct and indirect costs to the Washington state 38
patrol of processing such submission. 39
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(7) Fingerprints must be searched by the Washington state patrol 1
prior to being forwarded to the federal bureau of investigation for a 2
national search. 3
(8) In order to participate in this program qualified entities 4
and federally recognized tribes must: 5
(a) Notify the covered individual that: 6
(i) They have the right to obtain a copy of their own state and 7
federal criminal history record from the agency that conducted the 8
fingerprint check within a specified amount of time determined by the 9
qualified entity; 10
(ii) They have the right to appeal the results of the criminal 11
history record to challenge the accuracy or completion of information 12
in the criminal history record. 13
(b) Qualified entities and federally recognized tribes are 14
obligated to: 15
(i) Seek approval from the Washington state patrol before 16
submitting a request for screening under this section;17
(ii) Submit fingerprints on each applicant when requesting 18
criminal history record information under this section;19
(iii) Maintain a signed waiver for each applicant allowing the 20
release of the state and national criminal history record information 21
to the qualified entity or federally recognized tribe;22
(iv) Ensure the covered individual is provided notification the 23
results of the state and federal criminal history records check are 24
handled in a manner that protects the covered individual's privacy;25
(v) Provide covered individuals the opportunity to challenge the 26
accuracy of the information in the state and federal bureau of 27
investigation's criminal history record, if one exists, if using the 28
record to make a determination of the covered individual's 29
suitability for employment, licensing, or volunteering purposes;30
(vi) Advise the covered individual the procedures for obtaining a 31
change, correction, or updating the federal criminal history record 32
are set forth under 28 C.F.R. Sec. 16.34; and 33
(vii) Use the state and federal criminal history record 34
information only for the purpose of screening employees, contractor, 35
and volunteers or persons applying to be an employee, contractor, or 36
volunteer with a qualified entity or federally recognized tribe.37
Qualified entities or federally recognized tribes should not deny 38
employment, licenses, or volunteer positions based on information in 39
the criminal history record until the covered individual has been 40
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afforded a reasonable time to correct or complete the record or has 1
declined to do so. 2
(c) The Washington state patrol shall by rule establish fees for 3
disseminating records under this section to qualified entities or 4
federally recognized tribes. The revenue from the fees shall cover, 5
as nearly as practicable, the direct and indirect costs to the 6
Washington state patrol of disseminating the records. The cost of 7
record checks must also include the fee the federal bureau of 8
investigation charges for the criminal history background checks.9
(d) A qualified entity is not liable for damages solely for 10
failing to obtain the information authorized under this section with 11
respect to an employee, contractor, or volunteer. The state, any 12
political subdivision of the state, or any agency, officer, or 13
employee of the state or a political subdivision is not liable for 14
damages for providing information requested under this section.15
(e) The Washington state patrol has authority to adopt rules to 16
implement this chapter. 17
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