Court of appeals bailiffs

AN ACT Relating to the authority of court of appeals bailiffs to 1
assess threats to court of appeals judicial officers and staff 2
members; amending RCW 10.97.050; and adding a new section to chapter 3
2.06 RCW. 4
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:5
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. A new section is added to chapter 2.06 RCW 6
to read as follows: 7
(1) Bailiffs of the court of appeals are authorized to conduct 8
threat assessments on behalf of court of appeals judicial officers 9
and staff members. The court of appeals shall ensure that court of 10
appeals bailiffs are qualified by training and experience if they 11
perform these duties. 12
(2) Bailiffs of the court of appeals are authorized to receive 13
criminal history record information that includes nonconviction data 14
for purposes exclusively related to the investigation of any person 15
making a threat as defined in RCW 9A.04.110 against a court of 16
appeals judicial officer or staff member. Dissemination or use of 17
criminal history records or nonconviction data for purposes other 18
than authorized in this section is prohibited. 19
(3) Founded threats investigated under this section must be 20
referred to local law enforcement for further action. Local law 21
S-3450.1
SENATE BILL 6011
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2026 Regular Session
By Senators Dhingra, Cortes, Kauffman, Lovick, Nobles, Pedersen, and
Riccelli
Prefiled 01/07/26. Read first time 01/12/26. Referred to Committee
on Law & Justice.
p. 1 SB 6011
enforcement is authorized to report the outcome and any anticipated 1
action to bailiffs of the court of appeals. 2
Sec. 2. RCW 10.97.050 and 2024 c 303 s 2 are each amended to 3
read as follows: 4
(1) Conviction records may be disseminated without restriction.5
(2) Any criminal history record information which pertains to an 6
incident that occurred within the last twelve months for which a 7
person is currently being processed by the criminal justice system, 8
including the entire period of correctional supervision extending 9
through final discharge from parole, when applicable, may be 10
disseminated without restriction. 11
(3) Criminal history record information which includes 12
nonconviction data may be disseminated by a criminal justice agency 13
to another criminal justice agency for any purpose associated with 14
the administration of criminal justice, or in connection with the 15
employment of the subject of the record by a criminal justice or 16
juvenile justice agency, except as provided under RCW 13.50.260. A 17
criminal justice agency may respond to any inquiry from another 18
criminal justice agency without any obligation to ascertain the 19
purpose for which the information is to be used by the agency making 20
the inquiry. 21
(4) Criminal history record information which includes 22
nonconviction data may be disseminated by a criminal justice agency 23
to implement a statute, ordinance, executive order, or a court rule, 24
decision, or order which expressly refers to records of arrest, 25
charges, or allegations of criminal conduct or other nonconviction 26
data and authorizes or directs that it be available or accessible for 27
a specific purpose. 28
(5) Criminal history record information which includes 29
nonconviction data may be disseminated to individuals and agencies 30
pursuant to a contract with a criminal justice agency to provide 31
services related to the administration of criminal justice. Such 32
contract must specifically authorize access to criminal history 33
record information, but need not specifically state that access to 34
nonconviction data is included. The agreement must limit the use of 35
the criminal history record information to stated purposes and insure 36
the confidentiality and security of the information consistent with 37
state law and any applicable federal statutes and regulations.38
p. 2 SB 6011
(6) Criminal history record information which includes 1
nonconviction data may be disseminated to individuals and agencies 2
for the express purpose of research, evaluative, or statistical 3
activities pursuant to an agreement with a criminal justice agency. 4
Such agreement must authorize the access to nonconviction data, limit 5
the use of that information which identifies specific individuals to 6
research, evaluative, or statistical purposes, and contain provisions 7
giving notice to the person or organization to which the records are 8
disseminated that the use of information obtained therefrom and 9
further dissemination of such information are subject to the 10
provisions of this chapter and applicable federal statutes and 11
regulations, which shall be cited with express reference to the 12
penalties provided for a violation thereof. 13
(7) Criminal history record information that includes 14
nonconviction data may be disseminated to the state auditor solely 15
for the express purpose of conducting a process compliance audit 16
procedure and review of any deadly force investigation pursuant to 17
RCW 43.101.460. Dissemination or use of nonconviction data for 18
purposes other than authorized in this subsection is prohibited.19
(8) Criminal history record information that includes 20
nonconviction data may be disseminated to bailiffs of the supreme 21
court solely for the express purpose of investigations under RCW 22
2.04.260 and to bailiffs of the court of appeals solely for the 23
express purpose of investigations under section 1 of this act . 24
Dissemination or use of nonconviction data for purposes other than 25
authorized in this subsection is prohibited. 26
(9) Every criminal justice agency that maintains and disseminates 27
criminal history record information must maintain information 28
pertaining to every dissemination of criminal history record 29
information except a dissemination to the effect that the agency has 30
no record concerning an individual. Information pertaining to 31
disseminations shall include: 32
(a) An indication of to whom (agency or person) criminal history 33
record information was disseminated; 34
(b) The date on which the information was disseminated;35
(c) The individual to whom the information relates; and36
(d) A brief description of the information disseminated.37
The information pertaining to dissemination required to be 38
maintained shall be retained for a period of not less than one year.39
p. 3 SB 6011
(10) In addition to the other provisions in this section allowing 1
dissemination of criminal history record information, RCW 4.24.550 2
governs dissemination of information concerning offenders who commit 3
sex offenses as defined by RCW 9.94A.030. Criminal justice agencies, 4
their employees, and officials shall be immune from civil liability 5
for dissemination on criminal history record information concerning 6
sex offenders as provided in RCW 4.24.550. 7
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