This section modifies existing section 7.69A.020. Here is the modified chapter for context.
Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, the definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter.
"Crime" means an act punishable as a felony, gross misdemeanor, or misdemeanor under the laws of this state or equivalent federal or local law.
"Child" means any living child under the age of eighteen years.
"Victim" means a living person against whom a crime has been committed.
"Witness" means a person who has been or is expected to be summoned to testify for the prosecution in a criminal action, or who by reason of having relevant information is subject to call or likely to be called as a witness for the prosecution, whether or not an action or proceeding has been commenced.
"Family member" means child, parent, or legal guardian.
"Advocate" means any person, including a family member not accused of a crime, who provides support to a child victim or child witness during any legal proceeding.
"Court proceedings" means any court proceeding conducted during the course of the prosecution of a crime committed against a child victim, including pretrial hearings, trial, sentencing, or appellate proceedings.
"Identifying information**," of a living child victim or witness, includes the child's name, home and other physical addresses, telephone number, email address, social media identifier, image, locationof the child (except the location of the assault when it is not the child's address), and the surname of the child's parent if it is the same as the child's and the parent is not the alleged perpetrator. In cases where the child victim is a victim of sexual assault, "identifying information" also includes** the relationship between the child and the alleged perpetrator when the alleged perpetrator is a relative or step relative of the child victim.
"Crime victim/witness program" means any crime victim and witness program of a county or local law enforcement agency or prosecutor's office, any rape crisis center's sexual assault victim advocacy program as provided in chapter 70.125 RCW, any domestic violence program's legal and community advocate program for domestic violence victims as provided in chapter 70.123 RCW, or any other crime victim advocacy program which provides trained advocates to assist crime victims during the investigation and prosecution of the crime.
This section modifies existing section 7.69A.030. Here is the modified chapter for context.
In addition to the rights of victims and witnesses provided for in RCW 7.69.030, there shall be every reasonable effort made by law enforcement agencies, prosecutors, and judges to assure that child victims and witnesses are afforded the rights enumerated in this section. Except as provided in RCW 7.69A.050 regarding child victims or child witnesses of violent crimes, sex crimes, or child abuse, the enumeration of rights shall not be construed to create substantive rights and duties, and the application of an enumerated right in an individual case is subject to the discretion of the law enforcement agency, prosecutor, or judge. Child victims and witnesses have the following rights, which apply to any criminal court and/or juvenile court proceeding:
To have explained in language easily understood by the child, all legal proceedings and/or police investigations in which the child may be involved.
With respect to child victims of sex or violent crimes or child abuse, to have a crime victim advocate from a crime victim/witness program, or any other support person of the victim's choosing, present at any prosecutorial or defense interviews with the child victim. This subsection applies if practical and if the presence of the crime victim advocate or support person does not cause any unnecessary delay in the investigation or prosecution of the case. The role of the crime victim advocate is to provide emotional support to the child victim and to promote the child's feelings of security and safety.
To be provided, whenever possible, a secure waiting area during court proceedings and to have an advocate or support person remain with the child prior to and during any court proceedings.
To exempt from public disclosure under chapter 42.56 RCW, identifying information as defined in RCW 7.69A.020, of a living child victim or witness**, and to not have identifying information** disclosed by any law enforcement agency, prosecutor's office, or state agency without the permission of the child victim, child witness, parents, or legal guardians to anyone except another law enforcement agency, prosecutor, defense counsel, or private or governmental agency that provides services to the child victim or witness.
To allow an advocate to make recommendations to the prosecuting attorney about the ability of the child to cooperate with prosecution and the potential effect of the proceedings on the child.
To allow an advocate to provide information to the court concerning the child's ability to understand the nature of the proceedings.
To be provided information or appropriate referrals to social service agencies to assist the child and/or the child's family with the emotional impact of the crime, the subsequent investigation, and judicial proceedings in which the child is involved.
To allow an advocate to be present in court while the child testifies in order to provide emotional support to the child.
To provide information to the court as to the need for the presence of other supportive persons at the court proceedings while the child testifies in order to promote the child's feelings of security and safety.
To allow law enforcement agencies the opportunity to enlist the assistance of other professional personnel such as child protection services, victim advocates or prosecutorial staff trained in the interviewing of the child victim.
With respect to child victims of violent or sex crimes or child abuse, to receive either directly or through the child's parent or guardian if appropriate, at the time of reporting the crime to law enforcement officials, a written statement of the rights of child victims as provided in this chapter. The written statement shall include the name, address, and telephone number of a county or local crime victim/witness program, if such a crime victim/witness program exists in the county.
This section modifies existing section 10.97.130. Here is the modified chapter for context.
Information revealing the specific details that describe the alleged or proven child victim of sexual assault under age eighteen, or the identity or contact information of an alleged or proven child victim under age eighteen is confidential and not subject to release to the press or public without the permission of the child victim and the child's legal guardian. Identifying information is defined in RCW 7.69A.020. Contact information includes phone numbers, email addresses, social media profiles, and user names and passwords. Contact information or information identifying the child victim of sexual assault may be released to law enforcement, prosecutors, judges, defense attorneys, or private or governmental agencies that provide services to the child victim of sexual assault. Prior to release of any criminal history record information, the releasing agency shall delete any contact information or information identifying a child victim of sexual assault from the information except as provided in this section.
This section does not apply to court documents or other materials admitted in open judicial proceedings.
This section modifies existing section 13.50.050. Here is the modified chapter for context.
This section and RCW 13.50.260 and 13.50.270 govern records relating to the commission of juvenile offenses, including records relating to diversions.
The official juvenile court file of any alleged or proven juvenile offender shall be open to public inspection, unless sealed pursuant to RCW 13.50.260.
All records other than the official juvenile court file are confidential and may be released only as provided in this chapterand RCW 13.40.215 and 4.24.550.
Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, records retained or produced by any juvenile justice or care agency may be released to other participants in the juvenile justice or care system only when an investigation or case involving the juvenile in question is being pursued by the other participant or when that other participant is assigned the responsibility for supervising the juvenile.
Except as provided in RCW 4.24.550, information not in an official juvenile court file concerning a juvenile or a juvenile's family may be released to the public only when that information could not reasonably be expected to identify the juvenile or the juvenile's family.
Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, law enforcement and prosecuting attorneys' records pertaining to investigation, diversion, and prosecution of juvenile offenses must be released to the juvenile offender or his or her attorney, parent, or legal guardian upon request.
Upon the decision to arrest or the arrest, unredacted incident reports may be released to a school, unless redaction is necessary to avoid jeopardizing the investigation or prosecution or endangering witnesses**,** other students, staff, or school property.
The juvenile court and the prosecutor may set up and maintain a central recordkeeping system which may receive information on all alleged juvenile offenders against whom a complaint has been filed pursuant to RCW 13.40.070 whether or not their cases are currently pending before the court. The central recordkeeping system may be computerized. If a complaint has been referred to a diversion unit, the diversion unit shall promptly report to the juvenile court or the prosecuting attorney when the juvenile has agreed to diversion. An offense shall not be reported as criminal history in any central recordkeeping system without notification by the diversion unit of the date on which the offender agreed to diversion.
Upon request of the victim of a crime or the victim's immediate family, incident reports shall be released to the victim of the crime or the victim's immediate family.
Subject to the rules of discovery applicable in adult criminal prosecutions, the juvenile offense records of an adult criminal defendant or witness in an adult criminal proceeding shall be released upon request to prosecution and defense counsel after a charge has actually been filed. The juvenile offense records of any adult convicted of a crime and placed under the supervision of the adult corrections system shall be released upon request to the adult corrections system.
Any juvenile to whom the provisions of this section or RCW 13.50.260 or 13.50.270 may apply shall be given written notice of his or her rights under this section at the time of his or her disposition hearing or during the diversion process.
Nothing in this section or RCW 13.50.260 or 13.50.270 may be construed to prevent a crime victim or a member of the victim's family from divulging the identity of the alleged or proven juvenile offender or his or her family when necessary in a civil proceeding.
Except as provided in RCW 13.50.270(2), no identifying information held by the Washington state patrol in accordance with chapter 43.43 RCW is subject to destruction or sealing under this section. For the purposes of this subsection, identifying information includes photographs, fingerprints, palmprints, soleprints, toeprints and any other data that identifies a person by physical characteristics, name, birthdate or address, but does not include information regarding criminal activity, arrest, charging, diversion, conviction or other information about a person's treatment by the criminal justice system or about the person's behavior.
Information identifying child victims under age eighteen who are victims of sexual assaults by juvenile offenders is confidential and not subject to release to the press or public without the permission of the child victim or the child's legal guardian. Identifying information includes the child victim's name, addresses, location, photographs, and in cases in which the child victim is a relative of the alleged perpetrator, identification of the relationship between the child and the alleged perpetrator. Information identifying a child victim of sexual assault may be released to law enforcement, prosecutors, judges, defense attorneys, or private or governmental agencies that provide services to the child victim of sexual assault.
This section modifies existing section 42.56.240. Here is the modified chapter for context.
The following investigative, law enforcement, and crime victim information is exempt from public inspection and copying under this chapter:
(a) Except as provided in (b) of this subsection, specific intelligence information and specific investigative records compiled by investigative, law enforcement, and penology agencies, and state agencies vested with the responsibility to discipline members of any profession, the nondisclosure of which is essential to effective law enforcement or for the protection of any person's right to privacy;
Information revealing the identity of persons who are witnesses to or victims of crime or who file complaints with investigative, law enforcement, or penology agencies, other than the commission, if disclosure would endanger any person's life, physical safety, or property. If at the time a complaint is filed the complainant, victim, or witness indicates a desire for disclosure or nondisclosure, such desire shall govern. However, all complaints filed with the commission about any elected official or candidate for public office must be made in writing and signed by the complainant under oath;
Any records of investigative reports prepared by any state, county, municipal, or other law enforcement agency pertaining to sex offenses contained in chapter 9A.44 RCW or sexually violent offenses as defined in RCW 71.09.020, which have been transferred to the Washington association of sheriffs and police chiefs for permanent electronic retention and retrieval pursuant to RCW 40.14.070(2)(b);
License applications under RCW 9.41.070; copies of license applications or information on the applications may be released to law enforcement or corrections agencies;
Identifying information , as defined in RCW 7.69A.020, of child victims and witnesses;
Information contained in a local or regionally maintained gang database as well as the statewide gang database referenced in RCW 43.43.762;
Data from the electronic sales tracking system established in RCW 69.43.165;
Information submitted to the statewide unified sex offender notification and registration program under RCW 36.28A.040(6) by a person for the purpose of receiving notification regarding a registered sex offender, including the person's name, residential address, and email address;
Personally identifying information collected by law enforcement agencies pursuant to local security alarm system programs and vacation crime watch programs. Nothing in this subsection shall be interpreted so as to prohibit the legal owner of a residence or business from accessing information regarding his or her residence or business;
The felony firearm offense conviction database of felony firearm offenders established in RCW 43.43.822;
The identity of a state employee or officer who has in good faith filed a complaint with an ethics board, as provided in RCW 42.52.410, or who has in good faith reported improper governmental action, as defined in RCW 42.40.020, to the auditor or other public official, as defined in RCW 42.40.020;
The following security threat group information collected and maintained by the department of corrections pursuant to RCW 72.09.745: (a) Information that could lead to the identification of a person's security threat group status, affiliation, or activities; (b) information that reveals specific security threats associated with the operation and activities of security threat groups; and (c) information that identifies the number of security threat group members, affiliates, or associates;
The global positioning system data that would indicate the location of the residence of an employee or worker of a criminal justice agency as defined in RCW 10.97.030;
Body worn camera recordings to the extent nondisclosure is essential for the protection of any person's right to privacy as described in RCW 42.56.050, including, but not limited to, the circumstances enumerated in (a) of this subsection. A law enforcement or corrections agency shall not disclose a body worn camera recording to the extent the recording is exempt under this subsection.
Disclosure of a body worn camera recording is presumed to be highly offensive to a reasonable person under RCW 42.56.050 to the extent it depicts:
i.(A) Any areas of a medical facility, counseling, or therapeutic program office where:
(I) A patient is registered to receive treatment, receiving treatment, waiting for treatment, or being transported in the course of treatment; or
(II) Health care information is shared with patients, their families, or among the care team; or
(B) Information that meets the definition of protected health information for purposes of the health insurance portability and accountability act of 1996 or health care information for purposes of chapter 70.02 RCW;
ii. The interior of a place of residence where a person has a reasonable expectation of privacy;
iii. An intimate image;
iv. A minor;
v. The body of a deceased person;
vi. The identity of or communications from a victim or witness of an incident involving domestic violence as defined in RCW 10.99.020 or sexual assault as defined in RCW 70.125.030, or disclosure of intimate images as defined in RCW 9A.86.010. If at the time of recording the victim or witness indicates a desire for disclosure or nondisclosure of the recorded identity or communications, such desire shall govern; or
vii. The identifiable location information of a community-based domestic violence program as defined in RCW 70.123.020, or emergency shelter as defined in RCW 70.123.020.
b. The presumptions set out in (a) of this subsection may be rebutted by specific evidence in individual cases.
c. In a court action seeking the right to inspect or copy a body worn camera recording, a person who prevails against a law enforcement or corrections agency that withholds or discloses all or part of a body worn camera recording pursuant to (a) of this subsection is not entitled to fees, costs, or awards pursuant to RCW 42.56.550 unless it is shown that the law enforcement or corrections agency acted in bad faith or with gross negligence.
d. A request for body worn camera recordings must:
i. Specifically identify a name of a person or persons involved in the incident;
ii. Provide the incident or case number;
iii. Provide the date, time, and location of the incident or incidents; or
iv. Identify a law enforcement or corrections officer involved in the incident or incidents.
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i. A person directly involved in an incident recorded by the requested body worn camera recording, an attorney representing a person directly involved in an incident recorded by the requested body worn camera recording, a person or his or her attorney who requests a body worn camera recording relevant to a criminal case involving that person, or the executive director from either the Washington state commission on African American affairs, Asian Pacific American affairs, or Hispanic affairs, has the right to obtain the body worn camera recording, subject to any exemption under this chapter or any applicable law. In addition, an attorney who represents a person regarding a potential or existing civil cause of action involving the denial of civil rights under the federal or state Constitution, or a violation of a United States department of justice settlement agreement, has the right to obtain the body worn camera recording if relevant to the cause of action, subject to any exemption under this chapter or any applicable law. The attorney must explain the relevancy of the requested body worn camera recording to the cause of action and specify that he or she is seeking relief from redaction costs under this subsection (14)(e).
ii. A law enforcement or corrections agency responding to requests under this subsection (14)(e) may not require the requesting individual to pay costs of any redacting, altering, distorting, pixelating, suppressing, or otherwise obscuring any portion of a body worn camera recording.
iii. A law enforcement or corrections agency may require any person requesting a body worn camera recording pursuant to this subsection (14)(e) to identify himself or herself to ensure he or she is a person entitled to obtain the body worn camera recording under this subsection (14)(e).
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i. A law enforcement or corrections agency responding to a request to disclose body worn camera recordings may require any requester not listed in (e) of this subsection to pay the reasonable costs of redacting, altering, distorting, pixelating, suppressing, or otherwise obscuring any portion of the body worn camera recording prior to disclosure only to the extent necessary to comply with the exemptions in this chapter or any applicable law.
ii. An agency that charges redaction costs under this subsection (14)(f) must use redaction technology that provides the least costly commercially available method of redacting body worn camera recordings, to the extent possible and reasonable.
iii. In any case where an agency charges a requestor for the costs of redacting a body worn camera recording under this subsection (14)(f), the time spent on redaction of the recording shall not count towards the agency's allocation of, or limitation on, time or costs spent responding to public records requests under this chapter, as established pursuant to local ordinance, policy, procedure, or state law.
g. For purposes of this subsection (14):
i. "Body worn camera recording" means a video and/or sound recording that is made by a body worn camera attached to the uniform or eyewear of a law enforcement or corrections officer while in the course of his or her official duties; and
ii. "Intimate image" means an individual or individuals engaged in sexual activity, including sexual intercourse as defined in RCW 9A.44.010 and masturbation, or an individual's intimate body parts, whether nude or visible through less than opaque clothing, including the genitals, pubic area, anus, or postpubescent female nipple.
h. Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to restrict access to body worn camera recordings as otherwise permitted by law for official or recognized civilian and accountability bodies or pursuant to any court order.
i. Nothing in this section is intended to modify the obligations of prosecuting attorneys and law enforcement under 373 U.S. 83, 83 S. Ct. 1194, 10 L. Ed. 2d 215 (1963), , 541 U.S. 419, 115 S. Ct. 1555, 131 L. Ed.2d 490 (1995), and the relevant Washington court criminal rules and statutes.
j. A law enforcement or corrections agency must retain body worn camera recordings for at least sixty days and thereafter may destroy the records in accordance with the applicable records retention schedule;
Any records and information contained within the statewide sexual assault kit tracking system established in RCW 43.43.545;
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Survivor communications with, and survivor records maintained by, campus-affiliated advocates.
Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to restrict access to records maintained by a campus-affiliated advocate in the event that:
The survivor consents to inspection or copying;
There is a clear, imminent risk of serious physical injury or death of the survivor or another person;
Inspection or copying is required by federal law; or
A court of competent jurisdiction mandates that the record be available for inspection or copying.
"Campus-affiliated advocate" and "survivor" have the definitions in RCW 28B.112.030;
Information and records prepared, owned, used, or retained by the Washington association of sheriffs and police chiefs and information and records prepared, owned, used, or retained by the Washington state patrol pursuant to chapter 261, Laws of 2017; and
Any and all audio or video recordings of child forensic interviews as defined in chapter 26.44 RCW. Such recordings are confidential and may only be disclosed pursuant to a court order entered upon a showing of good cause and with advance notice to the child's parent, guardian, or legal custodian. However, if the child is an emancipated minor or has attained the age of majority as defined in RCW 26.28.010, advance notice must be to the child. Failure to disclose an audio or video recording of a child forensic interview as defined in chapter 26.44 RCW is not grounds for penalties or other sanctions available under this chapter.