Juvenile attorney access

AN ACT Relating to juvenile access to attorneys when contacted by 1
law enforcement; amending RCW 13.40.740; and adding a new section to 2
chapter 13.40 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 13.40 5
RCW to read as follows: 6
(1) This section applies to local jurisdictions with a population 7
greater than 1,000,000 people. 8
(2) Except as provided in subsection (5) of this section, law 9
enforcement shall provide a juvenile with access to an attorney for a 10
consultation, and that consultation shall be in person, before the 11
juvenile waives any constitutional rights if a law enforcement 12
officer: 13
(a) Questions a juvenile during a custodial interrogation;14
(b) Detains a juvenile based on probable cause of involvement in 15
criminal activity; or 16
(c) Requests that the juvenile provide consent to an evidentiary 17
search of the juvenile or the juvenile's property, dwellings, or 18
vehicles under the juvenile's control. 19
(3) The consultation required by subsection (2) of this section 20
may not be waived. 21
S-0897.1
SENATE BILL 5603
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2025 Regular Session
By Senators Christian, Torres, Goehner, J. Wilson, Fortunato, and
Warnick
p. 1 SB 5603
(4) The attorney providing the consultation shall be available to 1
respond to the scene of the investigation and able to consult with 2
any juvenile, juvenile victim, or juvenile witness as required in 3
subsection (2) of this section. 4
(5) Law enforcement shall coordinate with facilitating the in-5
person contact required under subsection (2) of this section, and may 6
provide transportation for the attorney as needed to prevent any 7
delay in the investigation of the offense. 8
(6) Statements made by a juvenile after the juvenile is contacted 9
by a law enforcement officer in a manner described under subsection 10
(2) of this section are not admissible in a juvenile offender or 11
adult criminal court proceeding, unless: 12
(a) The juvenile has been provided with access to an attorney for 13
consultation; and the juvenile provides an express waiver knowingly, 14
intelligently, and voluntarily made by the juvenile after the 15
juvenile has been fully informed of the rights being waived as 16
required under RCW 13.40.140; 17
(b) The statement is for impeachment purposes; or18
(c) The statement was made spontaneously. 19
(7) A law enforcement officer may question a juvenile without 20
following the requirement in subsection (2) of this section if:21
(a) The law enforcement officer believes the juvenile is a victim 22
of trafficking as described in RCW 9A.40.100; however, any 23
information obtained from the juvenile by law enforcement pursuant to 24
this subsection cannot be used in any prosecution of that juvenile; 25
or 26
(b)(i) The law enforcement officer believes that the information 27
sought is necessary to protect an individual's life from an imminent 28
threat; 29
(ii) A delay to allow legal consultation would impede the 30
protection of an individual's life from an imminent threat; and31
(iii) Questioning by the law enforcement officer is limited to 32
matters reasonably expected to obtain information necessary to 33
protect an individual's life from an imminent threat.34
(8) After the juvenile has consulted with legal counsel, the 35
juvenile may advise, direct a parent or guardian to advise, or direct 36
legal counsel to advise the law enforcement officer that the juvenile 37
chooses to assert a constitutional right. Any assertion of 38
constitutional rights by the juvenile through legal counsel must be 39
treated by a law enforcement officer as though it came from the 40
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juvenile. The waiver of any constitutional rights of the juvenile may 1
only be made according to the requirements of RCW 13.40.140.2
(9) For purposes of this section, the following definitions 3
apply: 4
(a) "Juvenile" means any individual who is under the 5
chronological age of 18 years; and 6
(b) "Law enforcement officer" means any general authority, 7
limited authority, or specially commissioned Washington peace officer 8
or federal peace officer as those terms are defined in RCW 10.93.020, 9
including school resource officers as defined in RCW 28A.320.124 and 10
other public officers who are responsible for enforcement of fire, 11
building, zoning, and life and safety codes. 12
Sec. 2. RCW 13.40.740 and 2021 c 328 s 1 are each amended to 13
read as follows: 14
(1) This section applies to local jurisdictions with a population 15
that is less than 1,000,000 people.16
(2) Except as provided in subsection (((4))) (5) of this section, 17
law enforcement shall provide a juvenile with access to an attorney 18
for consultation, which may be provided in person, by telephone, or 19
by videoconference, before the juvenile waives any constitutional 20
rights if a law enforcement officer: 21
(a) Questions a juvenile during a custodial interrogation;22
(b) Detains a juvenile based on probable cause of involvement in 23
criminal activity; or 24
(c) Requests that the juvenile provide consent to an evidentiary 25
search of the juvenile or the juvenile's property, dwellings, or 26
vehicles under the juvenile's control. 27
(((2))) (3) The consultation required by subsection (((1))) (2) 28
of this section may not be waived. 29
(((3))) (4) Statements made by a juvenile after the juvenile is 30
contacted by a law enforcement officer in a manner described under 31
subsection (((1))) (2) of this section are not admissible in a 32
juvenile offender or adult criminal court proceeding, unless:33
(a) The juvenile has been provided with access to an attorney for 34
consultation; and the juvenile provides an express waiver knowingly, 35
intelligently, and voluntarily made by the juvenile after the 36
juvenile has been fully informed of the rights being waived as 37
required under RCW 13.40.140; 38
(b) The statement is for impeachment purposes; or39
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(c) The statement was made spontaneously. 1
(((4))) (5) A law enforcement officer may question a juvenile 2
without following the requirement in subsection (((1))) (2) of this 3
section if: 4
(a) The law enforcement officer believes the juvenile is a victim 5
of trafficking as defined in RCW 9A.40.100; however, any information 6
obtained from the juvenile by law enforcement pursuant to this 7
subsection cannot be used in any prosecution of that juvenile; or8
(b)(i) The law enforcement officer believes that the information 9
sought is necessary to protect an individual's life from an imminent 10
threat; 11
(ii) A delay to allow legal consultation would impede the 12
protection of an individual's life from an imminent threat; and13
(iii) Questioning by the law enforcement officer is limited to 14
matters reasonably expected to obtain information necessary to 15
protect an individual's life from an imminent threat.16
(((5))) (6) After the juvenile has consulted with legal counsel, 17
the juvenile may advise, direct a parent or guardian to advise, or 18
direct legal counsel to advise the law enforcement officer that the 19
juvenile chooses to assert a constitutional right. Any assertion of 20
constitutional rights by the juvenile through legal counsel must be 21
treated by a law enforcement officer as though it came from the 22
juvenile. The waiver of any constitutional rights of the juvenile may 23
only be made according to the requirements of RCW 13.40.140.24
(((6))) (7) For purposes of this section, the following 25
definitions apply: 26
(a) "Juvenile" means any individual who is under the 27
chronological age of 18 years; and 28
(b) "Law enforcement officer" means any general authority, 29
limited authority, or specially commissioned Washington peace officer 30
or federal peace officer as those terms are defined in RCW 10.93.020, 31
including school resource officers as defined in RCW 28A.320.124 and 32
other public officers who are responsible for enforcement of fire, 33
building, zoning, and life and safety codes. 34
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