Sexually violent predators

AN ACT Relating to providing community notification regarding the 1
release or discharge of sexually violent predators; and amending RCW 2
71.09.025 and 71.09.140. 3
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:4
Sec. 1. RCW 71.09.025 and 2025 c 48 s 1 are each amended to read 5
as follows: 6
(1)(a) When it appears that a person may meet the criteria of a 7
sexually violent predator as defined in RCW 71.09.020, the agency 8
with jurisdiction shall refer the person in writing to the 9
prosecuting attorney of the county in which an action under this 10
chapter may be filed pursuant to RCW 71.09.030 and the attorney 11
general, three months prior to: 12
(i) The anticipated release from total confinement of a person 13
who has been convicted of a sexually violent offense;14
(ii) The anticipated release from total confinement of a person 15
found to have committed a sexually violent offense as a juvenile;16
(iii) Release of a person who has been charged with a sexually 17
violent offense and who has been determined to be incompetent to 18
stand trial pursuant to RCW 10.77.645(7); or 19
H-2743.1
HOUSE BILL 2349
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2026 Regular Session
By Representatives Leavitt, Griffey, Couture, Connors, Eslick,
Klicker, Ley, Stearns, Rude, Keaton, Reeves, Richards, Graham,
Barnard, Valdez, and Salahuddin
Prefiled 01/09/26. Read first time 01/12/26. Referred to Committee
on Community Safety.
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(iv) Release of a person who has been found not guilty by reason 1
of insanity of a sexually violent offense pursuant to RCW 10.77.103 2
and 10.77.500. 3
(b) The agency shall provide the prosecuting agency with all 4
relevant information including but not limited to the following 5
information: 6
(i) A complete copy of the institutional records compiled by the 7
department of corrections relating to the person, and any such out-8
of-state department of corrections' records, if available;9
(ii) A complete copy, if applicable, of any file compiled by the 10
indeterminate sentence review board relating to the person;11
(iii) All records relating to the psychological or psychiatric 12
evaluation and/or treatment of the person; 13
(iv) A current record of all prior arrests and convictions, and 14
full police case reports relating to those arrests and convictions; 15
and 16
(v) A current mental health evaluation or mental health records 17
review. 18
(c) The prosecuting agency has the authority, consistent with RCW 19
72.09.345(4), to obtain all records relating to the person if the 20
prosecuting agency deems such records are necessary to fulfill its 21
duties under this chapter. The prosecuting agency may only disclose 22
such records in the course of performing its duties pursuant to this 23
chapter, unless otherwise authorized by law. 24
(d) The prosecuting agency has the authority to utilize the 25
inquiry judge procedures of chapter 10.27 RCW prior to the filing of 26
any action under this chapter to seek the issuance of compulsory 27
process for the production of any records relevant to a determination 28
of whether to seek the civil commitment of a person under this 29
chapter. Any records obtained pursuant to this process may only be 30
disclosed by the prosecuting agency in the course of performing its 31
duties pursuant to this chapter, or unless otherwise authorized by 32
law. 33
(e) The prosecuting agency has the authority to utilize the 34
procedures under RCW 71.09.035 for the production of any records held 35
by a public agency, including any agency as defined in RCW 42.56.010, 36
relevant to a determination of whether to seek the civil commitment 37
of a person under this chapter. Any records obtained pursuant to this 38
process may only be disclosed by the prosecuting agency in the course 39
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of performing its duties pursuant to this chapter, or unless 1
otherwise authorized by law. 2
(2) The agency, its employees, and officials shall be immune from 3
liability for any good-faith conduct under this section.4
(3) As used in this section, "agency with jurisdiction" means 5
that agency with the authority to direct the release of a person 6
serving a sentence or term of confinement and includes the department 7
of corrections, the indeterminate sentence review board, and the 8
department of social and health services. 9
(4) When an agency with jurisdiction provides the referral in 10
subsection (1) of this section, the agency shall concurrently provide 11
written notice of the person's anticipated date of release to the 12
following:13
(a) The sheriff of the county in which an action under this 14
chapter may be filed;15
(b) The senator and each representative of a legislative district 16
in which an action under this chapter may be filed;17
(c) The administrator or manager of the county in which an action 18
under this chapter may be filed; and19
(d) The chair of the board of county commissioners or county 20
council, whichever is applicable, in which an action under this 21
chapter may be filed.22
Sec. 2. RCW 71.09.140 and 2021 c 236 s 8 are each amended to 23
read as follows: 24
(1)(a) At the earliest possible date, and in no event later than 25
30 days before conditional release, change of address for a person on 26
conditional release, or unconditional discharge, except in the event 27
of escape, the department of social and health services shall send 28
written notice of conditional release, unconditional discharge, or 29
escape, to the following: 30
(i) The chief of police of the city, if any, in which the person 31
will reside or in which placement will be made under a less 32
restrictive alternative; 33
(ii) The sheriff of the county in which the person will reside or 34
in which placement will be made under a less restrictive alternative; 35
((and))36
(iii) The sheriff of the county where the person was last 37
convicted of a sexually violent offense, if the department does not 38
know where the person will reside;39
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(iv) The executive authority of the political subdivision in 1
which the person will reside or in which placement will be made under 2
a less restrictive alternative;3
(v) The senator and each representative of the legislative 4
district in which the person will reside or in which placement will 5
be made under a less restrictive alternative;6
(vi) The administrator or manager of the political subdivision in 7
which the person will reside or in which placement will be made under 8
a less restrictive alternative;9
(vii) The chair of the city council of the city, if any, in which 10
the person will reside or in which placement will be made under a 11
less restrictive alternative; and12
(viii) The chair of the board of county commissioners or county 13
council, whichever is applicable, in which the person will reside or 14
in which placement will be made under a less restrictive alternative.15
The department shall notify the state patrol of the release of 16
all sexually violent predators and that information shall be placed 17
in the Washington crime information center for dissemination to all 18
law enforcement. 19
(b) When the conditional release or unconditional discharge is a 20
result of a court order, the department shall send written notice of 21
the court order to the entities listed in (a) of this subsection no 22
later than seven calendar days after the order is filed.23
(c) A return to total confinement or to a secure community 24
transition facility pending revocation or modification proceedings is 25
not considered a change of address for purposes of (a) of this 26
subsection, and an additional community notification process is not 27
required, unless conditional release is revoked under RCW 71.09.098 28
or the return lasts longer than 90 days. 29
(2) The same notice as required by subsection (1) of this section 30
shall be sent to the following if such notice has been requested in 31
writing about a specific person found to be a sexually violent 32
predator under this chapter: 33
(a) The victim or victims of any sexually violent offenses for 34
which the person was convicted in the past or the victim's next of 35
kin if the crime was a homicide. "Next of kin" as used in this 36
section means a person's spouse, parents, siblings, and children;37
(b) Any witnesses who testified against the person in his or her 38
commitment trial under RCW 71.09.060; and 39
(c) Any person specified in writing by the prosecuting agency.40
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Information regarding victims, next of kin, or witnesses 1
requesting the notice, information regarding any other person 2
specified in writing by the prosecuting agency to receive the notice, 3
and the notice are confidential and shall not be available to the 4
committed person. 5
(3) If a person committed as a sexually violent predator under 6
this chapter escapes from a department of social and health services 7
facility, the department shall immediately notify, by the most 8
reasonable and expedient means available, the chief of police of the 9
city and the sheriff of the county in which the committed person 10
resided immediately before his or her commitment as a sexually 11
violent predator, or immediately before his or her incarceration for 12
his or her most recent offense. If previously requested, the 13
department shall also notify the witnesses and the victims of the 14
sexually violent offenses for which the person was convicted in the 15
past or the victim's next of kin if the crime was a homicide. If the 16
person is recaptured, the department shall send notice to the persons 17
designated in this subsection as soon as possible but in no event 18
later than two working days after the department learns of such 19
recapture. 20
(4) If the victim or victims of any sexually violent offenses for 21
which the person was convicted in the past or the victim's next of 22
kin, or any witness is under the age of 16, the notice required by 23
this section shall be sent to the parents or legal guardian of the 24
child. 25
(5) The department of social and health services shall send the 26
notices required by this chapter to the last address provided to the 27
department by the requesting party. The requesting party shall 28
furnish the department with a current address. 29
(6) Nothing in this section shall impose any liability upon a 30
chief of police of a city or sheriff of a county for failing to 31
request in writing a notice as provided in subsection (1) of this 32
section. 33
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