Violent firearm offenses

AN ACT Relating to prohibiting persons convicted of violent 1
offenses with a firearm from receiving earned early release credits; 2
and amending RCW 9.94A.729. 3
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:4
Sec. 1. RCW 9.94A.729 and 2022 c 29 s 1 are each amended to read 5
as follows: 6
(1)(a) The term of the sentence of an offender committed to a 7
correctional facility operated by the department may be reduced by 8
earned release time in accordance with procedures that shall be 9
developed and adopted by the correctional agency having jurisdiction 10
in which the offender is confined. The earned release time shall be 11
for good behavior and good performance, as determined by the 12
correctional agency having jurisdiction. The correctional agency 13
shall not credit the offender with earned release credits in advance 14
of the offender actually earning the credits. 15
(b) Any program established pursuant to this section shall allow 16
an offender to earn early release credits for presentence 17
incarceration. If an offender is transferred from a county jail to 18
the department, the administrator of a county jail facility shall 19
certify to the department the amount of time spent in custody at the 20
facility and the number of days of early release credits lost or not 21
H-0936.1
HOUSE BILL 1799
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2025 Regular Session
By Representatives Graham, Griffey, Burnett, Stuebe, Jacobsen,
Schmidt, and Eslick
Read first time 02/03/25. Referred to Committee on Community Safety.
p. 1 HB 1799
earned. The department may approve a jail certification from a 1
correctional agency that calculates early release time based on the 2
actual amount of confinement time served by the offender before 3
sentencing when an erroneous calculation of confinement time served 4
by the offender before sentencing appears on the judgment and 5
sentence. The department must adjust an offender's rate of early 6
release listed on the jail certification to be consistent with the 7
rate applicable to offenders in the department's facilities. However, 8
the department is not authorized to adjust the number of presentence 9
early release days that the jail has certified as lost or not earned.10
(2)(a) An offender who has been convicted of a felony committed 11
after July 23, 1995, that involves any applicable deadly weapon 12
enhancements under RCW 9.94A.533 (3) or (4), or both, shall not 13
receive any good time credits or earned release time for that portion 14
of his or her sentence that results from any deadly weapon 15
enhancements. 16
(b) An offender whose sentence includes any impaired driving 17
enhancements under RCW 9.94A.533(7), minor child enhancements under 18
RCW 9.94A.533(13), or both, shall not receive any good time credits 19
or earned release time for any portion of his or her sentence that 20
results from those enhancements. 21
(3) ((An)) Except as provided in subsection (6) of this section, 22
an offender may earn early release time as follows:23
(a) In the case of an offender sentenced pursuant to RCW 24
10.95.030(((3))) (2) or 10.95.035, the offender may not receive any 25
earned early release time during the minimum term of confinement 26
imposed by the court; for any remaining portion of the sentence 27
served by the offender, the aggregate earned release time may not 28
exceed 10 percent of the sentence. 29
(b) In the case of an offender convicted of a serious violent 30
offense, or a sex offense that is a class A felony, committed on or 31
after July 1, 1990, and before July 1, 2003, the aggregate earned 32
release time may not exceed 15 percent of the sentence.33
(c) In the case of an offender convicted of a serious violent 34
offense, or a sex offense that is a class A felony, committed on or 35
after July 1, 2003, the aggregate earned release time may not exceed 36
10 percent of the sentence. 37
(d) An offender is qualified to earn up to 50 percent of 38
aggregate earned release time if he or she: 39
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(i) Is not classified as an offender who is at a high risk to 1
reoffend as provided in subsection (4) of this section;2
(ii) Is not confined pursuant to a sentence for:3
(A) A sex offense; 4
(B) A violent offense; 5
(C) A crime against persons as defined in RCW 9.94A.411;6
(D) A felony that is domestic violence as defined in RCW 7
10.99.020; 8
(E) A violation of RCW 9A.52.025 (residential burglary);9
(F) A violation of, or an attempt, solicitation, or conspiracy to 10
violate, RCW 69.50.401 by manufacture or delivery or possession with 11
intent to deliver methamphetamine; or 12
(G) A violation of, or an attempt, solicitation, or conspiracy to 13
violate, RCW 69.50.406 (delivery of a controlled substance to a 14
minor); 15
(iii) Has no prior conviction for the offenses listed in (d)(ii) 16
of this subsection; 17
(iv) Participates in programming or activities as directed by the 18
offender's individual reentry plan as provided under RCW 72.09.270 to 19
the extent that such programming or activities are made available by 20
the department; and 21
(v) Has not committed a new felony after July 22, 2007, while 22
under community custody. 23
(e) In no other case shall the aggregate earned release time 24
exceed one-third of the total sentence. 25
(4) The department shall perform a risk assessment of each 26
offender who may qualify for earned early release under subsection 27
(3)(d) of this section utilizing the risk assessment tool recommended 28
by the Washington state institute for public policy. Subsection 29
(3)(d) of this section does not apply to offenders convicted after 30
July 1, 2010. 31
(5)(a) A person who is eligible for earned early release as 32
provided in this section and who will be supervised by the department 33
pursuant to RCW 9.94A.501 or 9.94A.5011, shall be transferred to 34
community custody in lieu of earned release time; 35
(b) The department shall, as a part of its program for release to 36
the community in lieu of earned release, require the offender to 37
propose a release plan that includes an approved residence and living 38
arrangement. All offenders with community custody terms eligible for 39
release to community custody in lieu of earned release shall provide 40
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an approved residence and living arrangement prior to release to the 1
community; 2
(c) The department may deny transfer to community custody in lieu 3
of earned release time if the department determines an offender's 4
release plan, including proposed residence location and living 5
arrangements, may violate the conditions of the sentence or 6
conditions of supervision, place the offender at risk to violate the 7
conditions of the sentence, place the offender at risk to reoffend, 8
or present a risk to victim safety or community safety. The 9
department's authority under this section is independent of any 10
court-ordered condition of sentence or statutory provision regarding 11
conditions for community custody; 12
(d) If the department is unable to approve the offender's release 13
plan, the department may do one or more of the following:14
(i) Transfer an offender to partial confinement in lieu of earned 15
early release for a period not to exceed three months. The three 16
months in partial confinement is in addition to that portion of the 17
offender's term of confinement that may be served in partial 18
confinement as provided in RCW 9.94A.728(1)(e); 19
(ii) Provide rental vouchers to the offender for a period not to 20
exceed six months if rental assistance will result in an approved 21
release plan. 22
A voucher must be provided in conjunction with additional 23
transition support programming or services that enable an offender to 24
participate in services including, but not limited to, substance 25
abuse treatment, mental health treatment, sex offender treatment, 26
educational programming, or employment programming;27
(e) The department shall maintain a list of housing providers 28
that meets the requirements of RCW 72.09.285. If more than two 29
voucher recipients will be residing per dwelling unit, as defined in 30
RCW 59.18.030, rental vouchers for those recipients may only be paid 31
to a housing provider on the department's list; 32
(f) For each offender who is the recipient of a rental voucher, 33
the department shall gather data as recommended by the Washington 34
state institute for public policy in order to best demonstrate 35
whether rental vouchers are effective in reducing recidivism.36
(6)(a) An offender serving a term of confinement imposed under 37
RCW 9.94A.670(5)(a) is not eligible for earned release credits under 38
this section. 39
p. 4 HB 1799
(b) An offender serving a term of confinement for a violent 1
offense that was committed with a firearm or for which the person 2
received a firearm enhancement under RCW 9.94A.533(3) is not eligible 3
for earned release credits under this section.4
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