Criminal insanity

AN ACT Relating to reviewing laws related to criminal insanity 1
and competency to stand trial; adding new sections to chapter 10.77 2
RCW; creating a new section; recodifying RCW 10.77.020, 10.77.027, 3
10.77.0942, 10.77.095, 10.77.097, 10.77.210, 10.77.230, 10.77.240, 4
10.77.250, 10.77.255, 10.77.260, 10.77.270, 10.77.275, 10.77.280, 5
10.77.300, 10.77.145, 10.77.163, 10.77.165, 10.77.205, 10.77.207, 6
10.77.060, 10.77.065, 10.77.070, 10.77.100, 10.77.025, 10.77.030, 7
10.77.040, 10.77.080, 10.77.091, 10.77.094, 10.77.110, 10.77.120, 8
10.77.132, 10.77.140, 10.77.150, 10.77.152, 10.77.155, 10.77.160, 9
10.77.170, 10.77.175, 10.77.180, 10.77.190, 10.77.195, 10.77.200, 10
10.77.220, 10.77.050, 10.77.068, 10.77.072, 10.77.074, 10.77.075, 11
10.77.079, 10.77.084, 10.77.0845, 10.77.086, 10.77.088, 10.77.0885, 12
10.77.089, 10.77.092, 10.77.093, 10.77.202, and 10.77.320; 13
decodifying RCW 10.77.2101, 10.77.290, 10.77.310, 10.77.940, and 14
10.77.950; and providing an expiration date. 15
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:16
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. (1)(a) A task force to review laws related 17
to criminal insanity and competency to stand trial is established, 18
with members as provided in this subsection.19
(i) One member from each of the two largest caucuses of the 20
senate, to be appointed by the president of the senate;21
S-0177.3
SENATE BILL 5147
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2025 Regular Session
By Senators Torres, Dhingra, Frame, Harris, and Trudeau
Prefiled 01/07/25. Read first time 01/13/25. Referred to Committee
on Law & Justice.
p. 1 SB 5147
(ii) One member from each of the two largest caucuses of the 1
house of representatives, to be appointed by the speaker of the house 2
of representatives; 3
(iii) The secretary of the department of social and health 4
services or the secretary's designee; 5
(iv) The secretary of the department of corrections or the 6
secretary's designee; 7
(v) The director of the health care authority or the director's 8
designee; 9
(vi) The Washington state attorney general or the attorney 10
general's designee; 11
(vii) The director of the Washington state office of public 12
defense or the director's designee; and 13
(viii) Seventeen members to be appointed by the department of 14
social and health services meeting the descriptions identified in 15
(a)(viii)(A) through (O) of this subsection: 16
(A) One member representing superior courts, to be designated by 17
the Washington state superior court judges association;18
(B) One member representing courts of limited jurisdiction, to be 19
designated by the Washington state district and municipal courts 20
judges association; 21
(C) One member representing prosecutors, to be designated by the 22
Washington association of prosecuting attorneys; 23
(D) One member representing trial-level criminal defense 24
attorneys, to be designated by the Washington defender association;25
(E) One member representing law enforcement, to be designated by 26
the Washington association of sheriffs and police chiefs;27
(F) One member representing the interests of victims, to be 28
designated by the office of crime victims advocacy;29
(G) One member designated by disability rights Washington;30
(H) One member designated by the national alliance on mental 31
illness Washington; 32
(I) An independent mental health professional with expertise in 33
forensics; 34
(J) A representative of a medicaid managed care organization;35
(K) A representative of county governments, to be designated by 36
the Washington state association of counties; 37
(L) A representative of city governments, to be designated by the 38
association of Washington cities; 39
(M) A representative of western state hospital;40
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(N) A representative of eastern state hospital; and1
(O) Three individuals with direct lived experience of the 2
forensic mental health system, including at least one person who is a 3
former competency restoration patient and at least one person with 4
experience of commitment related to criminal insanity.5
(b) The task force shall choose its cochairs from among its 6
membership. The department of social and health services shall 7
convene the initial meeting of the task force. 8
(2) The task force shall undertake the following tasks:9
(a) A comprehensive review of the laws in chapter 10.77 RCW to 10
modernize and clean up issues that present barriers to 11
administration, public safety, consistency, fairness, efficiency, and 12
comprehension by victims, committed individuals, families, and the 13
courts; 14
(b) Consider potential terminology and language changes to 15
promote patient-centered language, improve coherence between legal 16
and medical terminology, reduce stigma, and improve understanding of 17
the competency evaluation process; and 18
(c) Make recommendations concerning law changes that would remove 19
barriers to diversion, promote effective treatment, and increase 20
services that would facilitate safe and responsible hospital 21
discharges. 22
(3) The task force may form subcommittees to assist its work. The 23
task force may contract with additional persons with specific 24
technical expertise if necessary to carry out the mandates of the 25
study. Such contracts may only be entered if an appropriation is 26
specifically provided for this purpose. 27
(4) Staff support for the task force must be provided by the 28
department of social and health services. Senate committee services 29
and the office of program research shall provide staff support for 30
the legislative members of the task force. The department of social 31
and health services must provide reporting under RCW 43.18A.030.32
(5) Legislative members of the task force are reimbursed for 33
travel expenses in accordance with RCW 44.04.120. Nonlegislative 34
members are not entitled to be reimbursed for travel expenses if they 35
are elected officials or are participating on behalf of an employer, 36
governmental entity, or other organization. Any reimbursement for 37
other nonlegislative members is subject to chapter 43.03 RCW.38
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(6) The task force shall report its findings and recommendations 1
to the governor and the appropriate committees of the legislature by 2
December 1, 2026. 3
(7) This section expires June 30, 2027. 4
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. (1) The code reviser shall recodify, as 5
necessary, the following sections of chapter 10.77 RCW in the 6
following order within chapter 10.77 RCW, using the indicated chapter 7
headings:8
General 9
RCW 10.77.02010
RCW 10.77.02711
RCW 10.77.094212
RCW 10.77.09513
RCW 10.77.09714
RCW 10.77.21015
RCW 10.77.23016
RCW 10.77.24017
RCW 10.77.25018
RCW 10.77.25519
RCW 10.77.26020
RCW 10.77.27021
RCW 10.77.27522
RCW 10.77.28023
RCW 10.77.30024
Authorized Leave and Furloughs 25
RCW 10.77.14526
RCW 10.77.16327
Community Notifications 28
RCW 10.77.16529
RCW 10.77.20530
RCW 10.77.20731
Evaluations Under This Chapter 32
RCW 10.77.06033
RCW 10.77.06534
RCW 10.77.07035
RCW 10.77.10036
Criminal Insanity 37
RCW 10.77.02538
RCW 10.77.03039
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RCW 10.77.0401
RCW 10.77.0802
RCW 10.77.0913
RCW 10.77.0944
RCW 10.77.1105
RCW 10.77.1206
RCW 10.77.1327
RCW 10.77.1408
RCW 10.77.1509
RCW 10.77.15210
RCW 10.77.15511
RCW 10.77.16012
RCW 10.77.17013
RCW 10.77.17514
RCW 10.77.18015
RCW 10.77.19016
RCW 10.77.19517
RCW 10.77.20018
RCW 10.77.22019
Competency to Stand Trial 20
RCW 10.77.05021
RCW 10.77.06822
RCW 10.77.07223
RCW 10.77.07424
RCW 10.77.07525
RCW 10.77.07926
RCW 10.77.08427
RCW 10.77.084528
RCW 10.77.08629
RCW 10.77.08830
RCW 10.77.088531
RCW 10.77.08932
RCW 10.77.09233
RCW 10.77.09334
RCW 10.77.20235
RCW 10.77.32036
(2) The code reviser shall correct all statutory references to 37
sections recodifed by this section. 38
NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. The following sections are decodified:39
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(1) RCW 10.77.2101 (Implementation of legislative intent);1
(2) RCW 10.77.290 (Secretary to adopt rules— 2015 1st sp.s. c 7);2
(3) RCW 10.77.310 (Health care authority contracts — Compensation 3
of staff in outpatient competency restoration programs);4
(4) RCW 10.77.940 (Equal application of 1989 c 420— Evaluation for 5
developmental disability); and 6
(5) RCW 10.77.950 (Construction— Chapter applicable to state 7
registered domestic partnerships— 2009 c 521). 8
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