wa-law.org > bill > 2025-26 > HB 2015 > Passed Legislature
GRANT PROGRAM. (1) Subject to the availability of amounts appropriated for this specific purpose, including amounts appropriated from the supplemental criminal justice account created in section 104 of this act, the commission shall develop and implement a local law enforcement grant program for the purpose of providing direct support to local and tribal law enforcement agencies in hiring, retaining, and training law enforcement officers, peer counselors, and behavioral health personnel working in co-response to increase community policing and public safety.
Under this section, the commission shall:
Establish the policies for applications and publish them on the commission's website;
Establish the procedures for submitting the grant applications and publish them on the commission's website;
Establish and publish on the commission's website the criteria for evaluating and selecting grant recipients; and
Create a grant application form that local and tribal law enforcement agencies must use to apply for grant funding.
The grants under the local law enforcement grant program must be awarded to local and tribal law enforcement agencies based on their submittals to the commission. To qualify for a grant pursuant to this section, a law enforcement agency must have:
Issued and implemented policies and practices consistent with RCW 43.17.425 and 10.93.160, and the office of the attorney general's keep Washington working act guide, model policies, and training recommendations for state and local law enforcement agencies;
Participated in commission training as required by RCW 43.101.455 and 36.28A.445;
Issued and implemented policies and practices regarding use of force and de-escalation tactics consistent with RCW 10.120.030 and the office of the attorney general's model policies, and all other commission and attorney general model policies regarding use of force for law enforcement including, but not limited to, duty to intervene and training and use of canine teams;
Implemented use of force data collection and reporting consistent with chapters 10.118 and 10.120 RCW when the program is operational, as confirmed by a notice from the attorney general's office to all police chiefs and sheriffs;
Issued and implemented policies and practices consistent with chapters 7.105 and 9.41 RCW and the commission model policies and training addressing firearm relinquishment pursuant to court orders;
A 25 percent officer completion rate with the commission's 40-hour crisis intervention team training;
A 100 percent officer compliance rate for those officers required to complete trauma-informed, gender-based violence interviewing, investigation, response, and case review training developed or approved by the commission pursuant to RCW 43.101.272 and 43.101.276, and if requested by the commission, participated in agency case reviews;
Except as it applies to tribal law enforcement agencies, received funding from a sales and use tax authorized pursuant to RCW 82.14.340 or 82.14.450, or authorized pursuant to section 201 of this act before the awarding of the grant;
A chief of police, marshal, or sheriff who is certified by the criminal justice training commission pursuant to this chapter and who has not:
Been convicted of a felony anywhere in the United States or under foreign law; or
Been convicted of a gross misdemeanor involving moral turpitude, dishonesty, fraud, or corruption; and
Issued and implemented policies and practices that prohibit volunteers who assist with agency work from enforcing criminal laws, other than for assistance with special event traffic and parking, including engaging in pursuits, detention, arrests, the use of force, or the use of deadly force; carrying or the use of firearms or other weapons; or the use of dogs to track people or animals other than for purposes of search and rescue; and that set forth the required supervision of volunteers, including that they must be clearly identifiable by the public as distinguishable from peace officers and any identifying insignia must be officially issued by the agency and used only when on duty.
In verifying the applicant's compliance with subsection (3) of this section, the commission shall assess the qualifications of the applicant agency under subsection (3)(a) and (c) of this section in consultation with the office of the attorney general.
In addition to the requirements of subsection (3) of this section, in order to qualify for a grant pursuant to this section, a law enforcement agency must provide the commission, at time of application for grant moneys, a detailed staffing plan specifying the following:
The total number of commissioned officers currently employed by the agency;
The total number of specially commissioned officers currently employed by the agency;
The total number of co-response teams established within the agency and what staffing are included in each co-response team;
The total number of administrative staff currently employed by the agency;
The number of officers on flexible work schedules;
The average 911 response rate of the agency over the 12-month period immediately preceding the month in which the agency is applying for the grant; and
The average case closure rate of the agency over the 12-month period immediately preceding the month in which the agency is applying for the grant.
The commission may provide an advance on grant funding to a law enforcement agency that does not qualify under subsection (3)(b), (f), or (g) of this section, but who otherwise meets the grant application criteria established by the commission in subsection (2) of this section. Funds advanced under this subsection must be used by the agency to cover the costs of sending officers to the trainings required under subsection (3) of this section, including any overtime costs.
Grant funding awarded to local and tribal law enforcement agencies may only be used for the purposes of:
Recruiting, funding, and retaining new law enforcement officers from the community in which the officer will be working, and recruiting, funding, and retaining new county corrections officers, peer counselors, and behavioral health personnel working in co-response in Washington state. Grants may provide up to 75 percent of the entry-level salaries and fringe benefits of full-time local or tribal law enforcement officers for a maximum of 36 months, with a minimum 25 percent local cash match requirement and a maximum state share of $125,000 per position. Any additional costs for salaries and benefits higher than entry level are the responsibility of the grant recipient agency. Recruiting lateral hires is not a permissible use of funds under this section;
Funding use of force, de-escalation, crisis intervention, and trauma-informed trainings for officers to remain in compliance with the commission's required trainings; and
Funding broader law enforcement and public safety efforts including, but not limited to, emergency management planning, environmental hazard mitigations, security personnel, community outreach and assistance programs, alternative response programs, and mental health crisis response.
In selecting grant recipients, the commission shall prioritize those law enforcement agency applicants in the following order:
Those who are seeking grants to establish co-response teams or community immersion law enforcement programs;
Those who currently maintain co-response teams and are seeking grants to hire additional law enforcement officers;
All other applicants.
This section expires June 30, 2028.
CRIMINAL JUSTICE TRAINING COMMISSION REPORTING. (1) Effective July 21, 2026, and annually thereafter on July 31st, the criminal justice training commission must report to the fiscal committees of the legislature on:
a. The total count of law enforcement grant applications received by the commission by fiscal year;
b. The total count of law enforcement officer positions applied for by fiscal year;
c. The total count of grant funding requested by fiscal year;
d. The name of each law enforcement entity that applied for the grant, how many officers they requested funding for, and how much state funding they requested by fiscal year; and
e. The count of grants awarded, to include the name of each law enforcement entity that was an award recipient for the grant, how many officers they received funding for, and how much state funding they were awarded by fiscal year.
WASHINGTON ASSOCIATION OF SHERIFFS AND POLICE CHIEFS REPORTING. (1) The Washington association of sheriffs and police chiefs shall complete a report on law enforcement personnel employed as general authority Washington peace officers, as defined in RCW 10.93.020, over time for each local law enforcement agency in Washington state. The report must include data points for each local law enforcement agency on July 1, 2020, July 1, 2021, July 1, 2022, July 1, 2023, July 1, 2024, and July 1, 2025, on the:
a. Count of general authority Washington peace officer positions;
b. Count of filled general authority Washington peace officer positions;
c. Count of vacant general authority Washington peace officer positions; and
d. Count of retirements of general authority Washington peace officer positions over the past 12 calendar months.
Using data from subsection (1) of this section, the report must also include a table to show the above data and in turn the vacancy rates and turnover rates for each local law enforcement agency, as well as a compiled statewide view of vacancy and turnover rates for general authority Washington peace officer positions year over year.
The report is due to the governor and fiscal committees of the legislature by January 1, 2026.
This section expires July 1, 2026.
SUPPLEMENTAL CRIMINAL JUSTICE ACCOUNT. (1) The supplemental criminal justice account is created in the state treasury. All receipts from legislative appropriations, donations, gifts, grants, and funds from federal or private sources must be deposited into the account. Expenditures from the account must be used exclusively for local law enforcement grants authorized in section 101 of this act for the purpose of providing direct support to local and tribal law enforcement agencies in hiring, retaining, and training law enforcement officers, peer counselors, and behavioral health personnel working in co-response to increase community policing and public safety. Only the criminal justice training commission or the commission's designee may authorize expenditures from the account. The account is subject to allotment procedures under chapter 43.88 RCW. Moneys in the account may be spent only after appropriation. Moneys may not be used to supplant general fund appropriations.
LOCAL SALES AND USE TAX. (1)(a) By June 30, 2028, the legislative authority of a qualified city or county may authorize, by resolution or ordinance, a sales and use tax in accordance with the terms of this chapter. The resolution or ordinance must include a finding that the city or county has met the requirements under (c) of this subsection.
b. If a city or county legislative authority has not adopted a resolution or ordinance to impose the tax under (a) of this subsection by June 30, 2028, the city or county may submit an authorizing proposition to the city or county voters at a primary or general election, and if the proposition is approved by the majority of persons voting, impose the sales and use tax under this section.
c. A qualified city or county may impose the tax authorized under this section only if the city or county meets the requirements to receive a grant under section 101 of this act. A city or county that has not issued and implemented policies and practices as required under section 101(3) and (4) of this act may not impose the tax authorized under this section.
d. To establish that the city or county qualifies under (c) of this subsection, the city or county must submit documentation, in a form and manner prescribed by the criminal justice training commission, demonstrating the city or county meets the requirements of section 101 of this act. A city or county that wishes to impose the tax authorized under this section may submit documentation to the commission before the commission finalizes the form and manner of such submittals and may not be penalized for doing so. However, once the commission has established the form and manner of the submission, all cities and counties must make submissions as prescribed.
i. If the commission, in consultation with the office of the attorney general, is unable to verify the submittal within 45 calendar days of receipt, the commission shall notify the city or county of any deficiencies.
ii. The city or county may, at this time, and conditioned on the city or county submitting supplemental documentation rectifying the stated deficiencies, authorize the tax established under this section. The commission shall thereafter notify the city or county of any outstanding deficiencies within 45 calendar days of receipt of the supplemental documentation.
iii. If the city or county has not rectified all deficiencies within 180 calendar days of its initial submittal under this section, as verified by the criminal justice training commission, the office of the state treasurer must withhold $100,000 of the tax collected under this section each month until the month in which the city or county comes into compliance with the requirements of section 101 of this act as verified by the criminal justice training commission.
e. The tax authorized in this section is in addition to any other taxes authorized by law and must be collected from those persons who are taxable by the state pursuant to chapters 82.08 and 82.12 RCW upon the occurrence of any taxable event within such city or county.
The rate of tax under this section equals 0.1 percent of the selling price, in the case of a sales tax, or value of the article used, in the case of a use tax.
Moneys received from the tax imposed under this section must be expended for criminal justice purposes.
[Empty]
Cities and counties who impose the tax authorized under this section shall, within one calendar year of imposition of the tax and annually thereafter, make a report to either the association of Washington cities or the Washington state association of counties on how the moneys received from the tax were expended.
by December 1, 2025, and annually thereafter, the association of Washington cities and Washington state association of counties shall compile all information received pursuant to (a) of this subsection and submit a report to the appropriate committees of the legislature detailing the purposes for which each city and county expended the moneys received from the tax.
For purposes of this section, the following definitions apply unless the context clearly requires otherwise.
"Criminal justice purposes" means activities that substantially assist the criminal justice system, which may include circumstances where ancillary benefit to the civil justice and behavioral health systems occurs, and which includes:
Domestic violence services, such as those provided by domestic violence programs, community advocates, and legal advocates, as those terms are defined in RCW 70.123.020;
Staffing adequate public defenders to provide appropriate defense for individuals;
Diversion programs;
Reentry work for inmates;
Local government programs that have a reasonable relationship to reducing the numbers of people interacting with the criminal justice system including, but not limited to, reducing homelessness or improving behavioral health;
Community placements for juvenile offenders; and
Community outreach and assistance programs, alternative response programs, and mental health crisis response including, but not limited to, the recovery navigator program.