Judicial security

AN ACT Relating to strengthening security for Washington state 1
judicial officers and court personnel; amending RCW 4.24.680, 2
4.24.700, 9A.46.020, 9A.90.120, 2.04.260, and 10.97.050; and adding a 3
new section to chapter 2.56 RCW. 4
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:5
Sec. 1. RCW 4.24.680 and 2006 c 355 s 2 are each amended to read 6
as follows: 7
(1) A person shall not knowingly make available on the ((world 8
wide web )) internet the personal information of ((a peace officer, 9
corrections person, justice, judge, commissioner, public defender, or 10
prosecutor)) an eligible individual if the dissemination of the 11
personal information poses ((an imminent and serious )) a threat to 12
the ((peace officer's, corrections person's, justice's, judge's, 13
commissioner's, public defender's, or prosecutor's )) eligible 14
individual's safety or the safety of ((that person's )) the eligible 15
individual's immediate family ((and the threat is reasonably apparent 16
to the person making the information available on the world wide web 17
to be serious and imminent)). 18
(2) It is not a violation of this section if an employee of a 19
county auditor or county assessor publishes personal information, in 20
good faith, on the website of the county auditor or county assessor 21
Z-0485.4
SENATE BILL 6086
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2026 Regular Session
By Senators Dhingra, Conway, Cortes, Liias, Nobles, Orwall, Pedersen,
Riccelli, Salomon, and C. Wilson; by request of Administrative Office
of the Courts
Read first time 01/13/26. Referred to Committee on Law & Justice.
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in the ordinary course of carrying out public functions provided that 1
the employee, county auditor, or county assessor complies with 2
requests to shield or remove personal information pursuant to 3
subsection (3) of this section. 4
(3) Any agency, business, person, data broker, or website who 5
receives a notice or request from an eligible individual or an 6
eligible individual's authorized agent for removal of his or her 7
personal information from the internet must comply within 10 business 8
days following physical or electronic receipt of the request or 9
notice to remove the individual's personal information.10
(a) An agency, business, person, data broker, or website may not 11
disclose or redisclose including, but not limited to, on the 12
internet, the personal information of any eligible individual who 13
submits a request or notice for removal.14
(b) For the purposes of this section, no provider or user of an 15
interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or 16
speaker of any information provided by another information content 17
provider.18
(4) For the purposes of this section: 19
(a) (("Commissioner" means a commissioner of the superior court, 20
court of appeals, or supreme court. )) "Authorized agent" means any 21
persons or entities authorized to act on behalf of any eligible 22
individual to submit or revoke a request for nondisclosure of 23
personal information and to engage in communications and enforcement.24
(b) "Corrections person" means any employee or volunteer who by 25
state, county, municipal, or combination thereof, statute has the 26
responsibility for the confinement, care, management, training, 27
treatment, education, supervision, or counseling of those whose civil 28
rights have been limited in some way by legal sanction.29
(c) "Court clerk" means any individual performing the duties in 30
RCW 2.32.050.31
(d) "Eligible individual" means a peace officer, corrections 32
person, judicial officer, public defender, prosecutor, court clerk, 33
person appointed to any position under RCW 34.12.030, or criminal 34
justice participant described in RCW 9A.46.020(4).35
(e) "Immediate family" means ((a peace officer's, corrections 36
person's, justice's, judge's, commissioner's, public defender's, or 37
prosecutor's)) an eligible individual's spouse, child, or parent and 38
any other adult or child who lives in the same residence as the 39
((person)) eligible individual. 40
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(((d) "Judge")) (f) "Judicial officer" means a justice, judge, 1
commissioner, or magistrate of the United States supreme court, the 2
United States district court, the United States court of appeals, 3
((the United States magistrate, )) the United States bankruptcy court, 4
((and)) the Washington supreme court, court of appeals, superior 5
court, district court, or municipal court , and administrative law 6
judges appointed under Title 34 RCW. 7
(((e) "Justice" means a justice of the United States supreme 8
court or Washington supreme court.9
(f))) (g) "Personal information" means ((a peace officer's, 10
corrections person's, justice's, judge's, commissioner's, public 11
defender's, or prosecutor's )) an eligible individual's home address, 12
home telephone number, pager number, social security number, home 13
email address, directions to the ((person's)) eligible individual's 14
home, or photographs of the ((person's)) eligible individual's home 15
or vehicle. 16
(((g))) (h) "Prosecutor" means a county prosecuting attorney, a 17
city attorney, the attorney general, or a United States attorney and 18
their assistants or deputies. 19
(((h))) (i) "Public defender" means a federal public defender, or 20
other public defender, and his or her assistants or deputies.21
Sec. 2. RCW 4.24.700 and 2006 c 355 s 3 are each amended to read 22
as follows: 23
Any person whose personal information is made available on the 24
((world wide web )) internet as described in RCW 4.24.680(1) who 25
suffers damages as a result of such conduct may bring an action 26
against the person or organization who makes such information 27
available, for actual damages sustained plus damages in an amount not 28
to exceed ((one thousand dollars )) $1,000 for each day the personal 29
information was made available on the ((world wide web )) internet 30
after expiration of the 10 business day deadline in RCW 4.24.680(3) 31
or after the date of an order issued under RCW 4.24.690, and 32
reasonable attorneys' fees and costs. 33
Sec. 3. RCW 9A.46.020 and 2024 c 292 s 1 are each amended to 34
read as follows: 35
(1) A person is guilty of harassment if: 36
(a) Without lawful authority, the person knowingly threatens:37
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(i) To cause bodily injury immediately or in the future to the 1
person threatened or to any other person; or 2
(ii) To cause physical damage to the property of a person other 3
than the actor; or 4
(iii) To subject the person threatened or any other person to 5
physical confinement or restraint; or 6
(iv) Maliciously to do any other act which is intended to 7
substantially harm the person threatened or another with respect to 8
his or her physical health or safety; and 9
(b) The person by words or conduct places the person threatened 10
in reasonable fear that the threat will be carried out. "Words or 11
conduct" includes, in addition to any other form of communication or 12
conduct, the sending of an electronic communication.13
(2)(a) Except as provided in (b) of this subsection, a person who 14
harasses another is guilty of a gross misdemeanor.15
(b) A person who harasses another is guilty of a class C felony 16
if any of the following apply: (i) The person has previously been 17
convicted in this or any other state of any crime of harassment, as 18
defined in RCW 9A.46.060, of the same victim or members of the 19
victim's family or household or any person specifically named in a 20
no-contact or no-harassment order; (ii) the person harasses another 21
person under subsection (1)(a)(i) of this section by threatening to 22
kill the person threatened or any other person; (iii) the person 23
harasses a criminal justice participant or election official who is 24
performing his or her official duties at the time the threat is made; 25
or (iv) the person harasses a criminal justice participant or 26
election official because of an action taken or decision made by the 27
criminal justice participant or election official during the 28
performance of his or her official duties. For the purposes of 29
(b)(iii) and (iv) of this subsection, the fear from the threat must 30
be a fear that a reasonable criminal justice participant or election 31
official would have under all the circumstances. Threatening words do 32
not constitute harassment if it is apparent to the criminal justice 33
participant or election official that the person does not have the 34
present and future ability to carry out the threat.35
(3) Any criminal justice participant or election official who is 36
a target for threats or harassment prohibited under subsection 37
(2)(b)(iii) or (iv) of this section, and any person residing with him 38
or her, shall be eligible for the address confidentiality program 39
created under RCW 40.24.030. 40
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(4) For purposes of this section, a criminal justice participant 1
includes any:2
(a) ((federal)) Federal, state, or local court judicial officer;3
(b) Federal, state, or local court administrator or staff;4
(c) Federal, state, or local law enforcement agency employee;5
(((b) federal)) (d) Federal, state, or local prosecuting attorney 6
or deputy prosecuting attorney; 7
(((c) staff)) (e) Staff member of any adult corrections 8
institution or local adult detention facility; 9
(((d) staff)) (f) Staff member of any juvenile corrections 10
institution or local juvenile detention facility; 11
(((e) community)) (g) Community corrections officer, probation, 12
or parole officer; 13
(((f) member)) (h) Member of the indeterminate sentence review 14
board; 15
(((g) advocate)) (i) Advocate from a crime victim/witness 16
program; 17
((or (h) defense)) (j) Defense attorney; or18
(k) State or local clerk staff. 19
(5) For the purposes of this section, an election official 20
includes any staff member of the office of the secretary of state or 21
staff member of a county auditor's office, regardless of whether the 22
member is employed on a temporary or part-time basis, whose duties 23
relate to voter registration or the processing of votes as provided 24
in Title 29A RCW. 25
(6) The penalties provided in this section for harassment do not 26
preclude the victim from seeking any other remedy otherwise available 27
under law. 28
Sec. 4. RCW 9A.90.120 and 2022 c 231 s 1 are each amended to 29
read as follows: 30
(1) A person is guilty of cyber harassment if the person, with 31
intent to harass or intimidate any other person, and under 32
circumstances not constituting telephone harassment, makes an 33
electronic communication to that person or a third party and the 34
communication: 35
(a)(i) Uses any lewd, lascivious, indecent, or obscene words, 36
images, or language, or suggests the commission of any lewd or 37
lascivious act; 38
(ii) Is made anonymously or repeatedly; 39
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(iii) Contains a threat to inflict bodily injury immediately or 1
in the future on the person threatened or to any other person; or2
(iv) Contains a threat to damage, immediately or in the future, 3
the property of the person threatened or of any other person; and4
(b) With respect to any offense committed under the circumstances 5
identified in (a)(iii) or (iv) of this subsection: 6
(i) Would cause a reasonable person, with knowledge of the 7
sender's history, to suffer emotional distress or to fear for the 8
safety of the person threatened; or 9
(ii) Reasonably caused the threatened person to suffer emotional 10
distress or fear for the threatened person's safety.11
(2)(a) Except as provided in (b) of this subsection, cyber 12
harassment is a gross misdemeanor. 13
(b) A person who commits cyber harassment is guilty of a class C 14
felony if any of the following apply: 15
(i) The person has previously been convicted in this or any other 16
state of any crime of harassment, as defined in RCW 9A.46.060, of the 17
same victim or members of the victim's family or household or any 18
person specifically named in a no-contact or no-harassment order;19
(ii) The person cyber harasses another person under subsection 20
(1)(a)(iii) of this section by threatening to kill the person 21
threatened or any other person; 22
(iii) The person cyber harasses a criminal justice participant or 23
election official who is performing the participant's official duties 24
or election official's official duties at the time the communication 25
is made; 26
(iv) The person cyber harasses a criminal justice participant or 27
election official because of an action taken or decision made by the 28
criminal justice participant or election official during the 29
performance of the participant's official duties or election 30
official's official duties; or 31
(v) The person commits cyber harassment in violation of any 32
protective order protecting the victim. 33
(3) Any criminal justice participant or election official who is 34
a target for threats or harassment prohibited under subsection 35
(2)(b)(iii) or (iv) of this section, and any family members residing 36
with the participant or election official, shall be eligible for the 37
address confidentiality program created under RCW 40.24.030.38
(4) For purposes of this section, ((a criminal justice 39
participant includes any:40
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(a) Federal, state, or municipal court judge;1
(b) Federal, state, or municipal court staff;2
(c) Federal, state, or local law enforcement agency employee;3
(d) Federal, state, or local prosecuting attorney or deputy 4
prosecuting attorney;5
(e) Staff member of any adult corrections institution or local 6
adult detention facility;7
(f) Staff member of any juvenile corrections institution or local 8
juvenile detention facility;9
(g) Community corrections officer, probation officer, or parole 10
officer;11
(h) Member of the indeterminate sentence review board;12
(i) Advocate from a crime victim/witness program; or13
(j) Defense attorney )) "criminal justice participant" has the 14
definition provided in RCW 9A.46.020(4). 15
(5) For the purposes of this section, an election official 16
includes any staff member of the office of the secretary of state or 17
staff member of a county auditor's office, regardless of whether the 18
member is employed on a temporary or part-time basis, whose duties 19
relate to voter registration or the processing of votes as provided 20
in Title 29A RCW. 21
(6) The penalties provided in this section for cyber harassment 22
do not preclude the victim from seeking any other remedy otherwise 23
available under law. 24
(7) Any offense committed under this section may be deemed to 25
have been committed either at the place from which the communication 26
was made or at the place where the communication was received.27
(8) For purposes of this section, "electronic communication" 28
means the transmission of information by wire, radio, optical cable, 29
electromagnetic, or other similar means. "Electronic communication" 30
includes, but is not limited to, email, internet-based 31
communications, pager service, and electronic text messaging.32
Sec. 5. RCW 2.04.260 and 2024 c 303 s 1 are each amended to read 33
as follows: 34
(1) Bailiffs of the supreme court are authorized to conduct 35
threat assessments on behalf of supreme court ((justices)) judicial 36
officers. The supreme court shall ensure that supreme court bailiffs 37
are qualified by training and experience if they perform these 38
duties. 39
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(2) Bailiffs of the supreme court are authorized to receive 1
criminal history record information that includes nonconviction data 2
for purposes exclusively related to the investigation of any person 3
making a threat as defined in RCW 9A.04.110 against a supreme court 4
((justice)) judicial officer . Dissemination or use of criminal 5
history records or nonconviction data for purposes other than 6
authorized in this section is prohibited. 7
(3) Founded threats investigated under this section must be 8
referred to local law enforcement for further action. Local law 9
enforcement is authorized to report the outcome and any anticipated 10
action to bailiffs of the supreme court. 11
NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. A new section is added to chapter 2.56 RCW 12
to read as follows: 13
(1) Court security consultants of the administrative office of 14
the courts are authorized to conduct threat assessments on behalf of 15
judicial officers. The administrative office of the courts shall 16
ensure that court security consultants are qualified by training and 17
experience if they perform these duties. 18
(2) Court security consultants of the administrative office of 19
the courts are authorized to receive criminal history record 20
information that includes nonconviction data exclusively for purposes 21
related to the investigation of any threat or person making a threat 22
as defined in RCW 9A.04.110 against a judicial officer. Dissemination 23
or use of criminal history records or nonconviction data for purposes 24
other than authorized in this section is prohibited.25
(3) Founded threats investigated under this section must be 26
referred to local law enforcement for further action. Local law 27
enforcement is authorized to report the outcome and any anticipated 28
action to the court security consultants of the administrative office 29
of the courts. 30
Sec. 7. RCW 10.97.050 and 2024 c 303 s 2 are each amended to 31
read as follows: 32
(1) Conviction records may be disseminated without restriction.33
(2) Any criminal history record information which pertains to an 34
incident that occurred within the last twelve months for which a 35
person is currently being processed by the criminal justice system, 36
including the entire period of correctional supervision extending 37
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through final discharge from parole, when applicable, may be 1
disseminated without restriction. 2
(3) Criminal history record information which includes 3
nonconviction data may be disseminated by a criminal justice agency 4
to another criminal justice agency for any purpose associated with 5
the administration of criminal justice, or in connection with the 6
employment of the subject of the record by a criminal justice or 7
juvenile justice agency, except as provided under RCW 13.50.260. A 8
criminal justice agency may respond to any inquiry from another 9
criminal justice agency without any obligation to ascertain the 10
purpose for which the information is to be used by the agency making 11
the inquiry. 12
(4) Criminal history record information which includes 13
nonconviction data may be disseminated by a criminal justice agency 14
to implement a statute, ordinance, executive order, or a court rule, 15
decision, or order which expressly refers to records of arrest, 16
charges, or allegations of criminal conduct or other nonconviction 17
data and authorizes or directs that it be available or accessible for 18
a specific purpose. 19
(5) Criminal history record information which includes 20
nonconviction data may be disseminated to individuals and agencies 21
pursuant to a contract with a criminal justice agency to provide 22
services related to the administration of criminal justice. Such 23
contract must specifically authorize access to criminal history 24
record information, but need not specifically state that access to 25
nonconviction data is included. The agreement must limit the use of 26
the criminal history record information to stated purposes and insure 27
the confidentiality and security of the information consistent with 28
state law and any applicable federal statutes and regulations.29
(6) Criminal history record information which includes 30
nonconviction data may be disseminated to individuals and agencies 31
for the express purpose of research, evaluative, or statistical 32
activities pursuant to an agreement with a criminal justice agency. 33
Such agreement must authorize the access to nonconviction data, limit 34
the use of that information which identifies specific individuals to 35
research, evaluative, or statistical purposes, and contain provisions 36
giving notice to the person or organization to which the records are 37
disseminated that the use of information obtained therefrom and 38
further dissemination of such information are subject to the 39
provisions of this chapter and applicable federal statutes and 40
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regulations, which shall be cited with express reference to the 1
penalties provided for a violation thereof. 2
(7) Criminal history record information that includes 3
nonconviction data may be disseminated to the state auditor solely 4
for the express purpose of conducting a process compliance audit 5
procedure and review of any deadly force investigation pursuant to 6
RCW 43.101.460. Dissemination or use of nonconviction data for 7
purposes other than authorized in this subsection is prohibited.8
(8)(a) Criminal history record information that includes 9
nonconviction data may be disseminated to bailiffs of the supreme 10
court solely for the express purpose of investigations under RCW 11
2.04.260. Dissemination or use of nonconviction data for purposes 12
other than authorized in this subsection is prohibited.13
(b) Criminal history record information that includes 14
nonconviction data may be disseminated to court security consultants 15
of the administrative office of the courts for the express purpose of 16
investigations under section 6 of this act. Dissemination or use of 17
nonconviction data for purposes other than authorized in this 18
subsection is prohibited.19
(9) Every criminal justice agency that maintains and disseminates 20
criminal history record information must maintain information 21
pertaining to every dissemination of criminal history record 22
information except a dissemination to the effect that the agency has 23
no record concerning an individual. Information pertaining to 24
disseminations shall include: 25
(a) An indication of to whom (agency or person) criminal history 26
record information was disseminated; 27
(b) The date on which the information was disseminated;28
(c) The individual to whom the information relates; and29
(d) A brief description of the information disseminated.30
The information pertaining to dissemination required to be 31
maintained shall be retained for a period of not less than one year.32
(10) In addition to the other provisions in this section allowing 33
dissemination of criminal history record information, RCW 4.24.550 34
governs dissemination of information concerning offenders who commit 35
sex offenses as defined by RCW 9.94A.030. Criminal justice agencies, 36
their employees, and officials shall be immune from civil liability 37
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for dissemination on criminal history record information concerning 1
sex offenders as provided in RCW 4.24.550. 2
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