Toxicology testing

AN ACT Relating to toxicology testing by certified or accredited 1
laboratories; amending RCW 46.61.506 and 46.61.506; providing an 2
effective date; and providing an expiration date. 3
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:4
Sec. 1. RCW 46.61.506 and 2020 c 80 s 33 are each amended to 5
read as follows: 6
(1) Upon the trial of any civil or criminal action or proceeding 7
arising out of acts alleged to have been committed by any person 8
while driving or in actual physical control of a vehicle while under 9
the influence of intoxicating liquor or any drug, if the person's 10
alcohol concentration is less than 0.08 or the person's THC 11
concentration is less than 5.00, it is evidence that may be 12
considered with other competent evidence in determining whether the 13
person was under the influence of intoxicating liquor or any drug.14
(2)(a) The breath analysis of the person's alcohol concentration 15
shall be based upon grams of alcohol per ((two hundred ten )) 210 16
liters of breath. 17
(b) The blood analysis of the person's THC concentration shall be 18
based upon nanograms per milliliter of whole blood.19
(c) The foregoing provisions of this section shall not be 20
construed as limiting the introduction of any other competent 21
S-3561.1
SENATE BILL 5880
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2026 Regular Session
By Senator Wagoner
Prefiled 12/12/25.
p. 1 SB 5880
evidence bearing upon the question whether the person was under the 1
influence of intoxicating liquor or any drug. 2
(3)(a) Analysis of the person's blood or breath to be considered 3
valid under the provisions of this section or RCW 46.61.502 or 4
46.61.504 shall have been performed ((according to methods approved 5
by the state toxicologist and by an individual)) by either:6
(i) An individual employing methods approved by the state 7
toxicologist and possessing a valid permit issued by the state 8
toxicologist for this purpose , as described in (b) of this 9
subsection; or10
(ii) A laboratory certified or accredited pursuant to the 11
international organization for standardization and the international 12
electrotechnical commission's ISO/IEC 17025 standard for forensic 13
toxicology testing. 14
(b) The state toxicologist is directed to approve satisfactory 15
techniques or methods, to supervise the examination of individuals to 16
ascertain their qualifications and competence to conduct such 17
analyses, and to issue permits which shall be subject to termination 18
or revocation at the discretion of the state toxicologist.19
(4)(a) A breath test performed by any instrument approved by the 20
state toxicologist shall be admissible at trial or in an 21
administrative proceeding if the prosecution or department produces 22
prima facie evidence of the following: 23
(i) The person who performed the test was authorized to perform 24
such test by the state toxicologist; 25
(ii) The person being tested did not vomit or have anything to 26
eat, drink, or smoke for at least ((fifteen)) 15 minutes prior to 27
administration of the test; 28
(iii) The person being tested did not have any foreign 29
substances, not to include dental work or piercings, fixed or 30
removable, in his or her mouth at the beginning of the ((fifteen-31
minute)) 15-minute observation period; 32
(iv) Prior to the start of the test, the temperature of any 33
liquid simulator solution utilized as an external standard, as 34
measured by a thermometer approved of by the state toxicologist was 35
((thirty-four)) 34 degrees centigrade plus or minus 0.3 degrees 36
centigrade; 37
(v) The internal standard test resulted in the message 38
"verified"; 39
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(vi) The two breath samples agree to within plus or minus ((ten)) 1
10 percent of their mean to be determined by the method approved by 2
the state toxicologist; 3
(vii) The result of the test of the liquid simulator solution 4
external standard or dry gas external standard result did lie 5
between .072 to .088 inclusive; and 6
(viii) All blank tests gave results of .000. 7
(b) For purposes of this section, "prima facie evidence" is 8
evidence of sufficient circumstances that would support a logical and 9
reasonable inference of the facts sought to be proved. In assessing 10
whether there is sufficient evidence of the foundational facts, the 11
court or administrative tribunal is to assume the truth of the 12
prosecution's or department's evidence and all reasonable inferences 13
from it in a light most favorable to the prosecution or department.14
(c) Nothing in this section shall be deemed to prevent the 15
subject of the test from challenging the reliability or accuracy of 16
the test, the reliability or functioning of the instrument, or any 17
maintenance procedures. Such challenges, however, shall not preclude 18
the admissibility of the test once the prosecution or department has 19
made a prima facie showing of the requirements contained in (a) of 20
this subsection. Instead, such challenges may be considered by the 21
trier of fact in determining what weight to give to the test result.22
(5) When a blood test is administered under the provisions of RCW 23
46.20.308, the withdrawal of blood for the purpose of determining its 24
alcohol or drug content may be performed only by a physician licensed 25
under chapter 18.71 RCW; an osteopathic physician licensed under 26
chapter 18.57 RCW; a registered nurse, licensed practical nurse, or 27
advanced registered nurse practitioner licensed under chapter 18.79 28
RCW; a physician assistant licensed under chapter 18.71A RCW; an 29
advanced emergency medical technician or paramedic certified under 30
chapter 18.71 RCW; or a medical assistant-certified or medical 31
assistant-phlebotomist certified under chapter 18.360 RCW, a person 32
holding another credential under Title 18 RCW whose scope of practice 33
includes performing venous blood draws, or a forensic phlebotomist 34
certified under chapter 18.360 RCW. When the blood test is performed 35
outside the state of Washington, the withdrawal of blood for the 36
purpose of determining its alcohol or drug content may be performed 37
by any person who is authorized by the out-of-state jurisdiction to 38
perform venous blood draws. Proof of qualification to draw blood may 39
be established through the department of health's provider credential 40
p. 3 SB 5880
search. This limitation shall not apply to the taking of breath 1
specimens. 2
(6) When a venous blood sample is performed by a forensic 3
phlebotomist certified under chapter 18.360 RCW, it must be done 4
under the following conditions: 5
(a) If taken at the scene, it must be performed in an ambulance 6
or aid service vehicle licensed by the department of health under 7
chapter 18.73 RCW. 8
(b) The collection of blood samples must not interfere with the 9
provision of essential medical care. 10
(c) The blood sample must be collected using sterile equipment 11
and the skin area of puncture must be thoroughly cleansed and 12
disinfected. 13
(d) The person whose blood is collected must be seated, reclined, 14
or lying down when the blood is collected. 15
(7) The person tested may have a licensed or certified health 16
care provider listed in subsection (5) of this section, or a 17
qualified technician, chemist, or other qualified person of his or 18
her own choosing administer one or more tests in addition to any 19
administered at the direction of a law enforcement officer. The test 20
will be admissible if the person establishes the general 21
acceptability of the testing technique or method. The failure or 22
inability to obtain an additional test by a person shall not preclude 23
the admission of evidence relating to the test or tests taken at the 24
direction of a law enforcement officer. 25
(8) Upon the request of the person who shall submit to a test or 26
tests at the request of a law enforcement officer, full information 27
concerning the test or tests shall be made available to him or her or 28
his or her attorney. 29
Sec. 2. RCW 46.61.506 and 2025 c 58 s 5097 are each amended to 30
read as follows: 31
(1) Upon the trial of any civil or criminal action or proceeding 32
arising out of acts alleged to have been committed by any person 33
while driving or in actual physical control of a vehicle while under 34
the influence of intoxicating liquor or any drug, if the person's 35
alcohol concentration is less than 0.08 or the person's THC 36
concentration is less than 5.00, it is evidence that may be 37
considered with other competent evidence in determining whether the 38
person was under the influence of intoxicating liquor or any drug.39
p. 4 SB 5880
(2)(a) The breath analysis of the person's alcohol concentration 1
shall be based upon grams of alcohol per ((two hundred ten )) 210 2
liters of breath. 3
(b) The blood analysis of the person's THC concentration shall be 4
based upon nanograms per milliliter of whole blood.5
(c) The foregoing provisions of this section shall not be 6
construed as limiting the introduction of any other competent 7
evidence bearing upon the question whether the person was under the 8
influence of intoxicating liquor or any drug. 9
(3)(a) Analysis of the person's blood or breath to be considered 10
valid under the provisions of this section or RCW 46.61.502 or 11
46.61.504 shall have been performed ((according to methods approved 12
by the state toxicologist and by an individual)) by either:13
(i) An individual employing methods approved by the state 14
toxicologist and possessing a valid permit issued by the state 15
toxicologist for this purpose , as described in (b) of this 16
subsection; or17
(ii) A laboratory certified or accredited pursuant to the 18
international organization for standardization and the international 19
electrotechnical commission's ISO/IEC 17025 standard for forensic 20
toxicology testing. 21
(b) The state toxicologist is directed to approve satisfactory 22
techniques or methods, to supervise the examination of individuals to 23
ascertain their qualifications and competence to conduct such 24
analyses, and to issue permits which shall be subject to termination 25
or revocation at the discretion of the state toxicologist.26
(4)(a) A breath test performed by any instrument approved by the 27
state toxicologist shall be admissible at trial or in an 28
administrative proceeding if the prosecution or department produces 29
prima facie evidence of the following: 30
(i) The person who performed the test was authorized to perform 31
such test by the state toxicologist; 32
(ii) The person being tested did not vomit or have anything to 33
eat, drink, or smoke for at least ((fifteen)) 15 minutes prior to 34
administration of the test; 35
(iii) The person being tested did not have any foreign 36
substances, not to include dental work or piercings, fixed or 37
removable, in his or her mouth at the beginning of the ((fifteen-38
minute)) 15-minute observation period; 39
p. 5 SB 5880
(iv) Prior to the start of the test, the temperature of any 1
liquid simulator solution utilized as an external standard, as 2
measured by a thermometer approved of by the state toxicologist was 3
((thirty-four)) 34 degrees centigrade plus or minus 0.3 degrees 4
centigrade; 5
(v) The internal standard test resulted in the message 6
"verified"; 7
(vi) The two breath samples agree to within plus or minus ((ten)) 8
10 percent of their mean to be determined by the method approved by 9
the state toxicologist; 10
(vii) The result of the test of the liquid simulator solution 11
external standard or dry gas external standard result did lie 12
between .072 to .088 inclusive; and 13
(viii) All blank tests gave results of .000. 14
(b) For purposes of this section, "prima facie evidence" is 15
evidence of sufficient circumstances that would support a logical and 16
reasonable inference of the facts sought to be proved. In assessing 17
whether there is sufficient evidence of the foundational facts, the 18
court or administrative tribunal is to assume the truth of the 19
prosecution's or department's evidence and all reasonable inferences 20
from it in a light most favorable to the prosecution or department.21
(c) Nothing in this section shall be deemed to prevent the 22
subject of the test from challenging the reliability or accuracy of 23
the test, the reliability or functioning of the instrument, or any 24
maintenance procedures. Such challenges, however, shall not preclude 25
the admissibility of the test once the prosecution or department has 26
made a prima facie showing of the requirements contained in (a) of 27
this subsection. Instead, such challenges may be considered by the 28
trier of fact in determining what weight to give to the test result.29
(5) When a blood test is administered under the provisions of RCW 30
46.20.308, the withdrawal of blood for the purpose of determining its 31
alcohol or drug content may be performed only by a physician licensed 32
under chapter 18.71 RCW; an osteopathic physician licensed under 33
chapter 18.57 RCW; a registered nurse, licensed practical nurse, or 34
advanced practice registered nurse licensed under chapter 18.79 RCW; 35
a physician assistant licensed under chapter 18.71A RCW; an advanced 36
emergency medical technician or paramedic certified under chapter 37
18.71 RCW; or a medical assistant-certified or medical assistant-38
phlebotomist certified under chapter 18.360 RCW, a person holding 39
another credential under Title 18 RCW whose scope of practice 40
p. 6 SB 5880
includes performing venous blood draws, or a forensic phlebotomist 1
certified under chapter 18.360 RCW. When the blood test is performed 2
outside the state of Washington, the withdrawal of blood for the 3
purpose of determining its alcohol or drug content may be performed 4
by any person who is authorized by the out-of-state jurisdiction to 5
perform venous blood draws. Proof of qualification to draw blood may 6
be established through the department of health's provider credential 7
search. This limitation shall not apply to the taking of breath 8
specimens. 9
(6) When a venous blood sample is performed by a forensic 10
phlebotomist certified under chapter 18.360 RCW, it must be done 11
under the following conditions: 12
(a) If taken at the scene, it must be performed in an ambulance 13
or aid service vehicle licensed by the department of health under 14
chapter 18.73 RCW. 15
(b) The collection of blood samples must not interfere with the 16
provision of essential medical care. 17
(c) The blood sample must be collected using sterile equipment 18
and the skin area of puncture must be thoroughly cleansed and 19
disinfected. 20
(d) The person whose blood is collected must be seated, reclined, 21
or lying down when the blood is collected. 22
(7) The person tested may have a licensed or certified health 23
care provider listed in subsection (5) of this section, or a 24
qualified technician, chemist, or other qualified person of his or 25
her own choosing administer one or more tests in addition to any 26
administered at the direction of a law enforcement officer. The test 27
will be admissible if the person establishes the general 28
acceptability of the testing technique or method. The failure or 29
inability to obtain an additional test by a person shall not preclude 30
the admission of evidence relating to the test or tests taken at the 31
direction of a law enforcement officer. 32
(8) Upon the request of the person who shall submit to a test or 33
tests at the request of a law enforcement officer, full information 34
concerning the test or tests shall be made available to him or her or 35
his or her attorney. 36
NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. Section 1 of this act expires June 30, 37
2027.38
p. 7 SB 5880
NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. Section 2 of this act takes effect June 1
30, 2027.2
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p. 8 SB 5880