Civilian crisis resp. teams

AN ACT Relating to civilian-staffed crisis response teams; 1
reenacting and amending RCW 42.56.230; and adding a new section to 2
chapter 38.52 RCW. 3
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:4
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. A new section is added to chapter 38.52 5
RCW to read as follows: 6
(1) A city with a population of more than 500,000 may establish 7
and maintain a civilian-staffed crisis response team operating 8
outside of a general authority Washington law enforcement agency.9
(2) The crisis response team is authorized to serve as the 10
primary response to 911 calls or on-view events when there is no 11
report of active or imminent violence or possession of weapons and 12
when the calls or events are regarding: 13
(a) A person in crisis with no request for law enforcement;14
(b) A person who appears to need, or is reported to need, a 15
safety and welfare check; or 16
(c) A request by a member of the public for resources including, 17
but not limited to, shelter, food, or transportation.18
(3) For calls not included in subsection (2) of this section, the 19
crisis response team may also serve as a secondary response in 20
H-1089.1
HOUSE BILL 1816
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2025 Regular Session
By Representatives Scott, Parshley, Farivar, Dufault, Fitzgibbon,
Davis, Goodman, Obras, Taylor, Pollet, Nance, Ryu, Hill, and Cortes
Read first time 02/04/25. Referred to Committee on Technology,
Economic Development, & Veterans.
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support of a law enforcement response as determined by the executive 1
head of the city. 2
(4) The executive head of the city will set minimum 3
qualifications for crisis responders that must include training in 4
scene safety, de-escalation, and interacting with individuals in 5
crisis. 6
(5) The executive head of the city may determine the 7
characteristics of the crisis response team including, but not 8
limited to: 9
(a) The department in which the crisis response team is situated;10
(b) The number of staff assigned to the crisis response team and 11
their required qualifications, consistent with the minimum 12
qualifications set forth in subsection (4) of this section;13
(c) The deployable areas and hours of operation; and14
(d) The specific types of calls in which primary 911 dispatch is 15
appropriate, consistent with the criteria set forth in subsection (2) 16
of this section. 17
(6) For any collective bargaining agreement covering law 18
enforcement personnel with an effective date on or after January 1, 19
2026, any provision in conflict with this section is preempted and is 20
unenforceable. A city covered by this section is prohibited from 21
collectively bargaining with a bargaining unit representing law 22
enforcement personnel in regard to the transfer of the 911 response 23
duties in subsection (2) of this section to a civilian-staffed crisis 24
response team. 25
(7) Any provision in a collective bargaining agreement covering 26
law enforcement personnel with an effective date prior to January 1, 27
2026, that conflicts with this section or limits a city's ability to 28
fully comply with this section may not be extended or renewed beyond 29
the expiration date of the collective bargaining agreement.30
(8) Notwithstanding the provisions of chapter 41.56 RCW, a city 31
covered by this section is prohibited from collectively bargaining 32
with a bargaining unit representing law enforcement personnel in 33
regard to any decisions made by the executive head of a city pursuant 34
to subsections (3), (4), and (5) of this section. However, to the 35
extent such decisions impact the wages, hours, and other working 36
conditions of law enforcement personnel, such impacts are subject to 37
collective bargaining to the extent required by chapter 41.56 RCW.38
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Sec. 2. RCW 42.56.230 and 2023 c 361 s 14, 2023 c 346 s 1, and 1
2023 c 182 s 2 are each reenacted and amended to read as follows:2
The following personal information is exempt from public 3
inspection and copying under this chapter: 4
(1) Personal information in any files maintained for students in 5
public schools, patients or clients of public institutions or public 6
health agencies, individuals receiving public safety or health 7
services from a nonlaw enforcement agency under section 1 of this 8
act, or welfare recipients; 9
(2)(a) Personal information: 10
(i) For a child enrolled in licensed child care in any files 11
maintained by the department of children, youth, and families;12
(ii) For a child enrolled in a public or nonprofit program 13
serving or pertaining to children, adolescents, or students, 14
including but not limited to early learning or child care services, 15
parks and recreation programs, youth development programs, and after-16
school programs; 17
(iii) For a student enrolled or previously enrolled in a local 18
education agency, in any records pertaining to the student, including 19
correspondence; 20
(iv) For the family members or guardians of a child who is 21
subject to the exemption under this subsection (2) if the family 22
member or guardian has the same last name as the child or if the 23
family member or guardian resides at the same address as the child 24
and disclosure of the family member's or guardian's information would 25
result in disclosure of the personal information exempted under 26
(a)(i) through (iii) of this subsection; or 27
(v) For substitute caregivers who are licensed or approved to 28
provide overnight care of children by the department of children, 29
youth, and families. 30
(b) Emergency contact information under this subsection (2) may 31
be provided to appropriate authorities and medical personnel for the 32
purpose of treating the individual during an emergency situation;33
(3) Personal information in files maintained for employees, 34
appointees, or elected officials of any public agency to the extent 35
that disclosure would violate their right to privacy;36
(4) Information required of any taxpayer in connection with the 37
assessment or collection of any tax if the disclosure of the 38
information to other persons would: (a) Be prohibited to such persons 39
by RCW 84.08.210, 82.32.330, 84.40.020, 84.40.340, or any ordinance 40
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authorized under RCW 35.102.145; or (b) violate the taxpayer's right 1
to privacy or result in unfair competitive disadvantage to the 2
taxpayer; 3
(5) Credit card numbers, debit card numbers, electronic check 4
numbers, card expiration dates, or bank or other financial 5
information as defined in RCW 9.35.005 including social security 6
numbers, except when disclosure is expressly required by or governed 7
by other law; 8
(6) Personal and financial information related to a small loan or 9
any system of authorizing a small loan in RCW 31.45.093;10
(7)(a) Any record used to prove identity, age, residential 11
address, social security number, or other personal information 12
required to apply for a driver's license or identicard.13
(b) Information provided under RCW 46.20.111 that indicates that 14
an applicant declined to register with the selective service system.15
(c) Any record pertaining to a vehicle license plate, driver's 16
license, or identicard issued under RCW 46.08.066 that, alone or in 17
combination with any other records, may reveal the identity of an 18
individual, or reveal that an individual is or was, performing an 19
undercover or covert law enforcement, confidential public health 20
work, public assistance fraud, or child support investigative 21
activity. This exemption does not prevent the release of the total 22
number of vehicle license plates, drivers' licenses, or identicards 23
that, under RCW 46.08.066, an agency or department has applied for, 24
been issued, denied, returned, destroyed, lost, and reported for 25
misuse. 26
(d) Any record pertaining to a vessel registration issued under 27
RCW 88.02.330 that, alone or in combination with any other records, 28
may reveal the identity of an individual, or reveal that an 29
individual is or was, performing an undercover or covert law 30
enforcement activity. This exemption does not prevent the release of 31
the total number of vessel registrations that, under RCW 88.02.330, 32
an agency or department has applied for, been issued, denied, 33
returned, destroyed, lost, and reported for misuse.34
Upon request by the legislature, the department of licensing 35
shall provide a report to the legislature containing all of the 36
information in (c) of this subsection (7) and this subsection (7)(d) 37
that is subject to public disclosure; 38
(8) All information related to individual claim resolution 39
settlement agreements submitted to the board of industrial insurance 40
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appeals under RCW 51.04.063, other than final orders from the board 1
of industrial insurance appeals. The board of industrial insurance 2
appeals shall provide to the department of labor and industries 3
copies of all final claim resolution settlement agreements;4
(9) Voluntarily submitted information contained in a database 5
that is part of or associated with 911 emergency communications 6
systems, or information contained or used in emergency notification 7
systems as provided under RCW 38.52.575 and 38.52.577;8
(10) Information relating to a future voter, as provided in RCW 9
29A.08.725; 10
(11) All information submitted by a person to the state, either 11
directly or through a state-licensed gambling establishment, or 12
Indian tribes, or tribal enterprises that own gambling operations or 13
facilities with class III gaming compacts, as part of the self-14
exclusion program established in RCW 9.46.071 or 67.70.040 for people 15
with a gambling problem or gambling disorder; 16
(12) Names, addresses, or other personal information of 17
individuals who participated in the bump-fire stock buy-back program 18
under former RCW 43.43.920; and 19
(13) All personal and financial information concerning a player 20
that is received or maintained by the state lottery or any contracted 21
lottery vendor except the player's name and city or town of 22
residence. Additional information may be released only in accordance 23
with prior written permission from the player. 24
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