Emergency response

AN ACT Relating to protecting emergency responders and emergency 1
response operations in Washington; amending RCW 9A.76.020; adding a 2
new section to chapter 35.21 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 3
36.01 RCW; adding new sections to chapter 38.52 RCW; creating new 4
sections; and prescribing penalties. 5
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:6
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature finds that undue 7
interference with emergency responders working to mitigate an ongoing 8
emergency or disaster can obstruct emergency response operations and 9
endanger the lives and property of the residents of Washington. It is 10
the intent of the legislature to preserve the integrity of emergency 11
response operations, protect the rights and safety of all emergency 12
responders, and to ensure due process of law throughout the state.13
Sec. 2. RCW 9A.76.020 and 2001 c 308 s 3 are each amended to 14
read as follows: 15
(1) A person is guilty of obstructing ((a law enforcement 16
officer)) an emergency responder if the person willfully hinders, 17
delays, or obstructs any ((law enforcement officer )) emergency 18
responder in the discharge of his or her official powers or duties if 19
the emergency responder is in uniform, announces he or she is an 20
H-2492.3
HOUSE BILL 2216
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2026 Regular Session
By Representatives Parshley, Ryu, Callan, Mena, Hall, Peterson, Reed,
Doglio, Fosse, and Hill
Prefiled 12/30/25. Read first time 01/12/26. Referred to Committee
on Technology, Economic Development, & Veterans.
p. 1 HB 2216
emergency responder, or a reasonable person would understand based on 1
the totality of the circumstances that he or she is an emergency 2
responder. 3
(2) (("Law enforcement officer" )) "Emergency responder" means 4
((any)):5
(a) Any general authority, limited authority, or specially 6
commissioned Washington peace officer or federal peace officer as 7
those terms are defined in RCW 10.93.020, and other public officers 8
who are responsible for enforcement of fire, building, zoning, and 9
life and safety codes;10
(b) Any employee or agent of a government agency or private 11
corporation that provides firefighting, fire response, fire control, 12
or fire suppression services, who is responding to or engaged in an 13
active fire or rescue incident;14
(c) Any employee or agent of a government agency or private 15
corporation that provides emergency medical transportation, care, or 16
services, who is responding to or engaged in an active medical 17
emergency incident;18
(d) Any emergency worker as that term is defined in RCW 19
38.52.010; or20
(e) Any emergency responder as that term is defined in RCW 21
24.60.010. 22
(3) Obstructing ((a law enforcement officer )) an emergency 23
responder is a gross misdemeanor. 24
(4) Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit:25
(a) Activity protected under the Constitution of the United 26
States or the Washington state Constitution; or27
(b) Activity undertaken by a law enforcement officer for an 28
authorized and lawful purpose.29
(5) For the purpose of this section, "law enforcement officer" 30
means any general authority, limited authority, or specially 31
commissioned Washington peace officer or federal peace officer as 32
those terms are defined in RCW 10.93.020.33
NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. A new section is added to chapter 35.21 34
RCW to read as follows: 35
(1) Except as provided in subsection (3) of this section, no 36
agency of any city or town, including unclassified cities or towns, 37
including law enforcement, may use agency funds, facilities, 38
property, equipment, or personnel to investigate, enforce, cooperate 39
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with, or assist in the investigation or enforcement of any federal 1
registration or surveillance programs or any other laws, rules, or 2
policies that target Washington residents, or persons working in 3
Washington, solely on the basis of race, religion, immigration, or 4
citizenship status, or national or ethnic origin. This subsection 5
does not apply to any program with the primary purpose of providing 6
persons with services or benefits, or to RCW 9.94A.685.7
(2) Except as provided in subsection (3) of this section, all 8
agencies of cities or towns including unclassified cities or towns 9
shall review their policies and identify and make any changes 10
necessary to ensure that: 11
(a) Information collected from individuals is limited to the 12
minimum necessary to comply with subsection (3) of this section;13
(b) Information collected from individuals is not disclosed 14
except as necessary to comply with subsection (3) of this section or 15
as permitted by state or federal law; 16
(c) Agency employees may not condition services or request 17
information or proof regarding a person's immigration status, 18
citizenship status, or place of birth; and 19
(d) Public services are available to, and agency employees shall 20
serve, all Washington residents without regard to immigration or 21
citizenship status. 22
(3) Nothing in subsection (1) or (2) of this section prohibits 23
the collection, use, or disclosure of information that is:24
(a) Required to comply with state or federal law;25
(b) In response to a lawfully issued court order;26
(c) Necessary to perform agency duties, functions, or other 27
business, as permitted by statute or rule, conducted by the agency 28
that is not related to immigration enforcement; 29
(d) Required to comply with policies, grants, waivers, or other 30
requirements necessary to maintain funding; or 31
(e) In the form of deidentified or aggregated data, including 32
census data. 33
(4) Any changes to agency policies required by this section must 34
be made as expeditiously as possible, consistent with agency 35
procedures. Final policies must be published. 36
(5) Agencies of cities or towns including unclassified cities or 37
towns shall begin implementation of this section no later than 38
January 1, 2027, and must demonstrate full compliance by January 1, 39
2028. 40
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(6) This section applies to all agencies of cities or towns 1
including unclassified cities or towns operating or existing in 2
Washington on or after January 1, 2027. 3
NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. A new section is added to chapter 36.01 4
RCW to read as follows: 5
(1) Except as provided in subsection (3) of this section, no 6
agency of any county, including law enforcement, may use agency 7
funds, facilities, property, equipment, or personnel to investigate, 8
enforce, cooperate with, or assist in the investigation or 9
enforcement of any federal registration or surveillance programs or 10
any other laws, rules, or policies that target Washington residents, 11
or persons working in Washington, solely on the basis of race, 12
religion, immigration, or citizenship status, or national or ethnic 13
origin. This subsection does not apply to any program with the 14
primary purpose of providing persons with services or benefits, or to 15
RCW 9.94A.685. 16
(2) Except as provided in subsection (3) of this section, all 17
agencies of counties shall review their policies and identify and 18
make any changes necessary to ensure that: 19
(a) Information collected from individuals is limited to the 20
minimum necessary to comply with subsection (3) of this section;21
(b) Information collected from individuals is not disclosed 22
except as necessary to comply with subsection (3) of this section or 23
as permitted by state or federal law; 24
(c) Agency employees may not condition services or request 25
information or proof regarding a person's immigration status, 26
citizenship status, or place of birth; and 27
(d) Public services are available to, and agency employees shall 28
serve, all Washington residents without regard to immigration or 29
citizenship status. 30
(3) Nothing in subsection (1) or (2) of this section prohibits 31
the collection, use, or disclosure of information that is:32
(a) Required to comply with state or federal law;33
(b) In response to a lawfully issued court order;34
(c) Necessary to perform agency duties, functions, or other 35
business, as permitted by statute or rule, conducted by the agency 36
that is not related to immigration enforcement; 37
(d) Required to comply with policies, grants, waivers, or other 38
requirements necessary to maintain funding; or 39
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(e) In the form of deidentified or aggregated data, including 1
census data. 2
(4) Any changes to agency policies required by this section must 3
be made as expeditiously as possible, consistent with agency 4
procedures. Final policies must be published. 5
(5) Agencies of counties shall begin implementation of this 6
section no later than January 1, 2027, and must demonstrate full 7
compliance by January 1, 2028. 8
(6) This section applies to all agencies of counties operating or 9
existing in Washington on or after January 1, 2027.10
NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. A new section is added to chapter 38.52 11
RCW to read as follows: 12
(1) Except as provided in subsection (3) of this section, no 13
incident command system, including law enforcement, may use any state 14
or local funds, facilities, property, equipment, or personnel to 15
investigate, enforce, cooperate with, or assist in the investigation 16
or enforcement of any federal registration or surveillance programs 17
or any other laws, rules, or policies that target Washington 18
residents, or persons working in Washington, solely on the basis of 19
race, religion, immigration, or citizenship status, or national or 20
ethnic origin. 21
(2) Nothing in subsection (1) of this section prohibits the 22
collection, use, or disclosure of information that is:23
(a) Required to comply with state or federal law;24
(b) In response to a lawfully issued court order;25
(c) Necessary to perform incident command system duties, 26
functions, or other business, as permitted by statute or rule, 27
conducted by the incident command system that is not related to 28
immigration enforcement; 29
(d) Required to comply with policies, grants, waivers, or other 30
requirements necessary to maintain funding; or 31
(e) In the form of deidentified or aggregated data, including 32
census data. 33
(3) This section applies to all incident command systems 34
directing or coordinating emergency response activities that take 35
place in Washington on or after January 1, 2027. 36
NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. A new section is added to chapter 38.52 37
RCW to read as follows: 38
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(1)(a) The governor and the executive authority of each political 1
subdivision of the state are authorized to designate any geographic 2
area within their respective jurisdictions that contains an ongoing 3
emergency or disaster as an emergency operation zone. The emergency 4
operation zone may be drawn to include affected and at-risk areas, 5
areas where emergency responders are staging or working, and 6
reasonable buffer zones. The designating authority shall establish a 7
duration for the emergency operation zone's existence that may not 8
exceed 30 days, but the designating authority may modify or renew the 9
designation as needed for emergencies or disasters that spread beyond 10
the zone's established borders or persist beyond the zone's 11
established duration. 12
(b) Whenever a designating authority establishes or modifies an 13
emergency operation zone it shall, as soon as practicable, publish 14
notice of the zone's existence, borders, and duration on the 15
designating authority's publicly accessible website and transmit a 16
copy of the notice to all local, state, and federal law enforcement 17
agencies the designating authority knows or reasonably expects to 18
operate within the emergency operation zone. A notice prepared under 19
this subsection shall include a citation to this section and the 20
statement "INTERFERENCE WITH EMERGENCY RESPONDERS WITHIN AN EMERGENCY 21
OPERATION ZONE IS RESTRICTED BY STATE LAW." 22
(2) Except as provided in subsection (3) of this section, any law 23
enforcement officer who enters or remains in an emergency operation 24
zone to target an emergency responder for the purpose of enforcing a 25
local, state, or federal law against the emergency responder, shall:26
(a) Visibly display identification in all places and at all times 27
while present in the emergency operation zone. Identification must 28
include, at minimum, the officer's agency name and an individual 29
identification number the officer's employer can link to the 30
officer's legal name and identity; 31
(b) Disclose to the incident commander, emergency management 32
authority, or designated administrator exercising delegated authority 33
the nature and scope of the officer's intended activities within the 34
emergency operation zone. The officer or the officer's employer must 35
make this disclosure before the officer enters the emergency 36
operation zone or, if the incident command team has not been 37
established at the time of the officer's entry into the emergency 38
operation zone, this disclosure must be made as soon as practicable 39
after the incident command team is established; 40
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(c) Obtain a valid judicial warrant before undertaking any 1
search, seizure, or arrest for which a warrant is required, and 2
provide a copy of such warrant upon request to the emergency 3
operation zone incident command team and the subject of the warrant; 4
and 5
(d) Refrain from disrupting emergency operations throughout the 6
emergency operation zone or interfering with any emergency responders 7
within the emergency operation zone, unless acting pursuant to a 8
judicial warrant authorizing a specified search or seizure.9
(3) The requirements of subsection (2) of this section do not 10
apply to: 11
(a) Any law enforcement officer outside an emergency operation 12
zone; 13
(b) Any law enforcement officer who enters or remains in an 14
emergency operation zone, if the officer does not intend to target an 15
emergency responder for the purpose of enforcing a local, state, or 16
federal law against the emergency responder; 17
(c) Any law enforcement officer who is lawfully operating under a 18
previously established assumed identity for the purpose of 19
investigating a suspected violent offense by an emergency responder 20
who lives, works, or is present in the emergency operation zone, if: 21
(i) The officer is operating under an assumed identity with the 22
knowledge and authorization of the officer's superiors, and (ii) 23
compliance with the requirements of this section would be likely to 24
compromise the ongoing criminal investigation of the emergency 25
responder or endanger the investigating officer; or26
(d) Any law enforcement officer who cannot reasonably comply with 27
the requirements of this section as a result of an ongoing search for 28
or pursuit of an emergency responder who the officer has probable 29
cause to believe has committed a violent offense or is about to 30
commit a violent offense. 31
(4) A violation of this section is not a criminal or civil 32
offense and does not provide any basis for criminal or civil 33
liability, but such violation must be reported to the attorney 34
general. 35
(5) In response to any reported violation of this section, the 36
attorney general may: 37
(a) Provide notification of the violation to the governor and any 38
affected political subdivision of the state, the attorney general of 39
the United States, the United States department of justice office of 40
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the inspector general, and any member or committee of the United 1
States congress or Washington legislature; 2
(b) Publish a public report on the attorney general's website 3
that details the violation; and 4
(c) Provide notification of the violation to any affected 5
individuals and organizations, including legal advocacy 6
organizations. 7
(6) In response to any reported violation of this section by a 8
federal officer or agent that disrupted or interfered with an 9
emergency response or resulted in the detention or arrest of an 10
emergency responder, the attorney general must provide notification 11
of the violation to the attorney general of the United States and the 12
United States department of justice office of the inspector general. 13
The attorney general may provide additional notifications and 14
reporting as provided in subsection (5) of this section.15
(7) The definitions in this subsection apply throughout this 16
section unless the context clearly requires otherwise.17
(a) "Emergency operation zone" means any designated geographic 18
area as described in subsection (1) of this section that contains an 19
ongoing emergency or disaster. 20
(b) "Emergency responder" means: 21
(i) Any general authority, limited authority, or specially 22
commissioned Washington peace officer or federal peace officer as 23
those terms are defined in RCW 10.93.020, and other public officers 24
who are responsible for enforcement of fire, building, zoning, and 25
life and safety codes; 26
(ii) Any employee or agent of a government agency or private 27
corporation that provides firefighting, fire response, fire control, 28
or fire suppression services, who is responding to an active fire;29
(iii) Any employee or agent of a government agency or private 30
corporation that provides emergency medical transportation, care, or 31
services, who is responding to an active medical emergency;32
(iv) Any emergency worker as that term is defined in RCW 33
38.52.010; or 34
(v) Any emergency responder as that term is defined in RCW 35
24.60.010. 36
(c) "Incident command team" means the leadership of an incident 37
command system as that term is defined in RCW 38.52.010.38
(d) "Law enforcement officer" means any employee, agent, officer, 39
or contractor of any local or state government in the United States, 40
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or the federal government of the United States, who enforces local, 1
state, or federal law, and who is authorized to search, seize, 2
detain, or arrest any person. 3
(e) "Violent offense" has the same meaning as provided in RCW 4
9.94A.030. 5
NEW SECTION. Sec. 7. If any provision of this act or its 6
application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the 7
remainder of the act or the application of the provision to other 8
persons or circumstances is not affected.9
NEW SECTION. Sec. 8. If any part of this act is found to be in 10
conflict with federal requirements that are a prescribed condition to 11
the allocation of federal funds to the state, the conflicting part of 12
this act is inoperative solely to the extent of the conflict and with 13
respect to the agencies directly affected, and this finding does not 14
affect the operation of the remainder of this act in its application 15
to the agencies concerned. Rules adopted under this act must meet 16
federal requirements that are a necessary condition to the receipt of 17
federal funds by the state.18
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