Human trafficking

AN ACT Relating to prevention of and remedies for human 1
trafficking; reenacting and amending RCW 42.56.240; adding new 2
sections to chapter 9A.40 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 7.98 3
RCW; and prescribing penalties. 4
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:5
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. A new section is added to chapter 9A.40 6
RCW to read as follows: 7
BUSINESS ENTITY LIABILITY. (1) A person that is a business entity 8
may be prosecuted for an offense under RCW 9A.40.100 or 9A.40.110 9
only if: 10
(a) The entity knowingly engages in conduct that constitutes 11
human trafficking; or 12
(b) An employee or nonemployee agent of the entity engages in 13
conduct that constitutes human trafficking and the conduct is part of 14
a pattern of activity in violation of RCW 9A.40.100 or 9A.40.110 for 15
the benefit of the entity, which the entity knew was occurring and 16
failed to take effective action to stop. 17
(2) When a person that is a business entity is prosecuted for an 18
offense under RCW 9A.40.100 or 9A.40.110, the court may consider the 19
severity of the entity's conduct and order penalties in addition to 20
those otherwise provided for the offense, including:21
Z-0443.1
SENATE BILL 5936
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2026 Regular Session
By Senators Orwall, Pedersen, Nobles, Riccelli, Valdez, and C.
Wilson; by request of Uniform Law Commission
Prefiled 12/23/25. Read first time 01/12/26. Referred to Committee
on Law & Justice.
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(a) A fine of not more than $1,000,000 per offense;1
(b) Disgorgement of profit from activity in violation of RCW 2
9A.40.100 or 9A.40.110; and 3
(c) Debarment from state and local government contracts.4
(3) For purposes of this section, "human trafficking" means 5
trafficking in the first or second degree under RCW 9A.40.100 or 6
coercion of involuntary servitude under RCW 9A.40.110.7
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. A new section is added to chapter 9A.40 8
RCW to read as follows: 9
VICTIM CONFIDENTIALITY. In an investigation of or a prosecution 10
for an offense under RCW 9A.40.100 or 9A.40.110, law enforcement 11
officers and prosecuting agencies shall keep confidential the 12
identity, pictures, and images of the alleged victim and the family 13
of the alleged victim, except to the extent that disclosure is:14
(1) Necessary for the purpose of investigation or prosecution;15
(2) Required by law or court order; or 16
(3) Necessary to ensure provision of services or benefits for the 17
victim or the victim's family. 18
Sec. 3. RCW 42.56.240 and 2024 c 299 s 2 and 2024 c 298 s 21 are 19
each reenacted and amended to read as follows: 20
The following investigative, law enforcement, and crime victim 21
information is exempt from public inspection and copying under this 22
chapter: 23
(1) Specific intelligence information and specific investigative 24
records compiled by investigative, law enforcement, and penology 25
agencies, and state agencies vested with the responsibility to 26
discipline members of any profession, the nondisclosure of which is 27
essential to effective law enforcement or for the protection of any 28
person's right to privacy; 29
(2) Information revealing the identity of persons who are 30
witnesses to or victims of crime or who file complaints with 31
investigative, law enforcement, or penology agencies, other than the 32
commission, if disclosure would endanger any person's life, physical 33
safety, or property. If at the time a complaint is filed the 34
complainant, victim, or witness indicates a desire for disclosure or 35
nondisclosure, such desire shall govern. However, all complaints 36
filed with the commission about any elected official or candidate for 37
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public office must be made in writing and signed by the complainant 1
under oath; 2
(3) Any records of investigative reports prepared by any state, 3
county, municipal, or other law enforcement agency pertaining to sex 4
offenses contained in chapter 9A.44 RCW or sexually violent offenses 5
as defined in RCW 71.09.020, which have been transferred to the 6
Washington association of sheriffs and police chiefs for permanent 7
electronic retention and retrieval pursuant to RCW 40.14.070(2)(b);8
(4) License applications under RCW 9.41.070, except that copies 9
of license applications or information on the applications may be 10
released to law enforcement or corrections agencies or to persons and 11
entities as authorized under RCW 9.41.815; 12
(5)(a) Information revealing ((the)):13
(i) The specific details that describe an alleged or proven child 14
victim of sexual assault or commercial sexual exploitation under age 15
18((, or the));16
(ii) The identity or contact information of an alleged or proven 17
child victim of sexual assault or commercial sexual exploitation who 18
is under age 18; or19
(iii) In an investigation of or a prosecution for an offense 20
under RCW 9A.40.100 or 9A.40.110, the identity, pictures, and images 21
of the alleged victim and the family of the alleged victim.22
(b) Identifying information includes the ((child)) victim's name, 23
addresses, location, photograph, and in cases in which ((the)) a 24
child victim is a relative, stepchild, or stepsibling of the alleged 25
perpetrator, identification of the relationship between the child and 26
the alleged perpetrator. Contact information includes phone numbers, 27
email addresses, social media profiles, and user names and passwords.28
(((b))) (c) For purposes of this subsection (5), "commercial 29
sexual exploitation" has the same meaning as in RCW 7.105.010;30
(6) Information contained in a local or regionally maintained 31
gang database as well as the statewide gang database referenced in 32
RCW 43.43.762; 33
(7) Data from the electronic sales tracking system established in 34
RCW 69.43.165; 35
(8) Information submitted to the statewide unified sex offender 36
notification and registration program under RCW 36.28A.040(6) by a 37
person for the purpose of receiving notification regarding a 38
registered sex offender, including the person's name, residential 39
address, and email address; 40
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(9) Personally identifying information collected by law 1
enforcement agencies pursuant to local security alarm system programs 2
and vacation crime watch programs. Nothing in this subsection shall 3
be interpreted so as to prohibit the legal owner of a residence or 4
business from accessing information regarding his or her residence or 5
business; 6
(10) The felony firearm offense conviction database of felony 7
firearm offenders established in RCW 43.43.822; 8
(11) The identity of a state employee or officer who has in good 9
faith filed a complaint with an ethics board, as provided in RCW 10
42.52.410, or who has in good faith reported improper governmental 11
action, as defined in RCW 42.40.020, to the auditor or other public 12
official, as defined in RCW 42.40.020; 13
(12) The following security threat group information collected 14
and maintained by the department of corrections pursuant to RCW 15
72.09.745: (a) Information that could lead to the identification of a 16
person's security threat group status, affiliation, or activities; 17
(b) information that reveals specific security threats associated 18
with the operation and activities of security threat groups; and (c) 19
information that identifies the number of security threat group 20
members, affiliates, or associates; 21
(13) The global positioning system data that would indicate the 22
location of the residence of an employee or worker of a criminal 23
justice agency as defined in RCW 10.97.030; 24
(14) Body worn camera recordings to the extent nondisclosure is 25
essential for the protection of any person's right to privacy as 26
described in RCW 42.56.050, including, but not limited to, the 27
circumstances enumerated in (a) of this subsection. A law enforcement 28
or corrections agency shall not disclose a body worn camera recording 29
to the extent the recording is exempt under this subsection.30
(a) Disclosure of a body worn camera recording is presumed to be 31
highly offensive to a reasonable person under RCW 42.56.050 to the 32
extent it depicts: 33
(i)(A) Any areas of a medical facility, counseling, or 34
therapeutic program office where: 35
(I) A patient is registered to receive treatment, receiving 36
treatment, waiting for treatment, or being transported in the course 37
of treatment; or 38
(II) Health care information is shared with patients, their 39
families, or among the care team; or 40
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(B) Information that meets the definition of protected health 1
information for purposes of the health insurance portability and 2
accountability act of 1996 or health care information for purposes of 3
chapter 70.02 RCW; 4
(ii) The interior of a place of residence where a person has a 5
reasonable expectation of privacy; 6
(iii) An intimate image; 7
(iv) A minor; 8
(v) The body of a deceased person; 9
(vi) The identity of or communications from a victim or witness 10
of an incident involving domestic violence as defined in RCW 11
10.99.020 or sexual assault as defined in RCW 70.125.030, or 12
disclosure of intimate images as defined in RCW 9A.86.010. If at the 13
time of recording the victim or witness indicates a desire for 14
disclosure or nondisclosure of the recorded identity or 15
communications, such desire shall govern; or 16
(vii) The identifiable location information of a community-based 17
domestic violence program as defined in RCW 70.123.020, or emergency 18
shelter as defined in RCW 70.123.020. 19
(b) The presumptions set out in (a) of this subsection may be 20
rebutted by specific evidence in individual cases.21
(c) In a court action seeking the right to inspect or copy a body 22
worn camera recording, a person who prevails against a law 23
enforcement or corrections agency that withholds or discloses all or 24
part of a body worn camera recording pursuant to (a) of this 25
subsection is not entitled to fees, costs, or awards pursuant to RCW 26
42.56.550 unless it is shown that the law enforcement or corrections 27
agency acted in bad faith or with gross negligence.28
(d) A request for body worn camera recordings must:29
(i) Specifically identify a name of a person or persons involved 30
in the incident; 31
(ii) Provide the incident or case number; 32
(iii) Provide the date, time, and location of the incident or 33
incidents; or 34
(iv) Identify a law enforcement or corrections officer involved 35
in the incident or incidents. 36
(e)(i) A person directly involved in an incident recorded by the 37
requested body worn camera recording, an attorney representing a 38
person directly involved in an incident recorded by the requested 39
body worn camera recording, a person or his or her attorney who 40
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requests a body worn camera recording relevant to a criminal case 1
involving that person, or the executive director from either the 2
Washington state commission on African American affairs, Asian 3
Pacific American affairs, or Hispanic affairs, has the right to 4
obtain the body worn camera recording, subject to any exemption under 5
this chapter or any applicable law. In addition, an attorney who 6
represents a person regarding a potential or existing civil cause of 7
action involving the denial of civil rights under the federal or 8
state Constitution, or a violation of a United States department of 9
justice settlement agreement, has the right to obtain the body worn 10
camera recording if relevant to the cause of action, subject to any 11
exemption under this chapter or any applicable law. The attorney must 12
explain the relevancy of the requested body worn camera recording to 13
the cause of action and specify that he or she is seeking relief from 14
redaction costs under this subsection (14)(e). 15
(ii) A law enforcement or corrections agency responding to 16
requests under this subsection (14)(e) may not require the requesting 17
individual to pay costs of any redacting, altering, distorting, 18
pixelating, suppressing, or otherwise obscuring any portion of a body 19
worn camera recording. 20
(iii) A law enforcement or corrections agency may require any 21
person requesting a body worn camera recording pursuant to this 22
subsection (14)(e) to identify himself or herself to ensure he or she 23
is a person entitled to obtain the body worn camera recording under 24
this subsection (14)(e). 25
(f)(i) A law enforcement or corrections agency responding to a 26
request to disclose body worn camera recordings may require any 27
requester not listed in (e) of this subsection to pay the reasonable 28
costs of redacting, altering, distorting, pixelating, suppressing, or 29
otherwise obscuring any portion of the body worn camera recording 30
prior to disclosure only to the extent necessary to comply with the 31
exemptions in this chapter or any applicable law. 32
(ii) An agency that charges redaction costs under this subsection 33
(14)(f) must use redaction technology that provides the least costly 34
commercially available method of redacting body worn camera 35
recordings, to the extent possible and reasonable.36
(iii) In any case where an agency charges a requestor for the 37
costs of redacting a body worn camera recording under this subsection 38
(14)(f), the time spent on redaction of the recording shall not count 39
towards the agency's allocation of, or limitation on, time or costs 40
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spent responding to public records requests under this chapter, as 1
established pursuant to local ordinance, policy, procedure, or state 2
law. 3
(g) For purposes of this subsection (14): 4
(i) "Body worn camera recording" means a video and/or sound 5
recording that is made by a body worn camera attached to the uniform 6
or eyewear of a law enforcement or corrections officer while in the 7
course of his or her official duties; and 8
(ii) "Intimate image" means an individual or individuals engaged 9
in sexual activity, including sexual intercourse as defined in RCW 10
9A.44.010 and masturbation, or an individual's intimate body parts, 11
whether nude or visible through less than opaque clothing, including 12
the genitals, pubic area, anus, or postpubescent female nipple.13
(h) Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to restrict 14
access to body worn camera recordings as otherwise permitted by law 15
for official or recognized civilian and accountability bodies or 16
pursuant to any court order. 17
(i) Nothing in this section is intended to modify the obligations 18
of prosecuting attorneys and law enforcement under Brady v. Maryland, 19
373 U.S. 83, 83 S. Ct. 1194, 10 L. Ed. 2d 215 (1963), Kyles v. 20
Whitley, 541 U.S. 419, 115 S. Ct. 1555, 131 L. Ed.2d 490 (1995), and 21
the relevant Washington court criminal rules and statutes.22
(j) A law enforcement or corrections agency must retain body worn 23
camera recordings for at least 60 days and thereafter may destroy the 24
records in accordance with the applicable records retention schedule;25
(15) Any records and information contained within the statewide 26
sexual assault kit tracking system established in RCW 43.43.545;27
(16)(a) Survivor communications with, and survivor records 28
maintained by, campus-affiliated advocates. 29
(b) Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to restrict 30
access to records maintained by a campus-affiliated advocate in the 31
event that: 32
(i) The survivor consents to inspection or copying;33
(ii) There is a clear, imminent risk of serious physical injury 34
or death of the survivor or another person; 35
(iii) Inspection or copying is required by federal law; or36
(iv) A court of competent jurisdiction mandates that the record 37
be available for inspection or copying. 38
(c) "Campus-affiliated advocate" and "survivor" have the 39
definitions in RCW 28B.112.030; 40
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(17) Information and records prepared, owned, used, or retained 1
by the Washington association of sheriffs and police chiefs and 2
information and records prepared, owned, used, or retained by the 3
Washington state patrol pursuant to chapter 261, Laws of 2017;4
(18) Any and all audio or video recordings of child forensic 5
interviews as defined in chapter 26.44 RCW. Such recordings are 6
confidential and may only be disclosed pursuant to a court order 7
entered upon a showing of good cause and with advance notice to the 8
child's parent, guardian, or legal custodian. However, if the child 9
is an emancipated minor or has attained the age of majority as 10
defined in RCW 26.28.010, advance notice must be to the child. 11
Failure to disclose an audio or video recording of a child forensic 12
interview as defined in chapter 26.44 RCW is not grounds for 13
penalties or other sanctions available under this chapter; and14
(19) Information exempt from public disclosure and copying under 15
RCW 43.10.305(2)(f). 16
NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. A new section is added to chapter 7.98 RCW 17
to read as follows: 18
LAW ENFORCEMENT PROTOCOL. (1) On request from an individual whom 19
a certifying agency reasonably believes is a victim who is or has 20
been subjected to a severe form of trafficking or criminal offense 21
required for the individual to qualify for a T or U nonimmigrant visa 22
under 8 U.S.C. Sec. 1101 (a)(15)(T) or (U), as amended, or for 23
continued presence under 22 U.S.C. Sec. 7105 (c)(3), as amended, the 24
certifying agency, as soon as practicable after receiving the 25
request, shall complete, sign, and give to the individual the form 26
I-914 supplement B or form I-918 supplement B provided by the United 27
States citizenship and immigration services on its internet website 28
and ask a federal law enforcement officer to request continued 29
presence. 30
(2) If the certifying agency determines that an individual does 31
not meet the requirements for the certifying agency to comply with 32
subsection (1) of this section, the agency shall inform the 33
individual of the reason and that the individual may make another 34
request under subsection (1) of this section and submit additional 35
evidence satisfying the requirements. 36
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