wa-law.org > bill > 2025-26 > HB 2216 > Original Bill
The legislature finds that undue interference with emergency responders working to mitigate an ongoing emergency or disaster can obstruct emergency response operations and endanger the lives and property of the residents of Washington. It is the intent of the legislature to preserve the integrity of emergency response operations, protect the rights and safety of all emergency responders, and to ensure due process of law throughout the state.
A person is guilty of obstructing an emergency responder if the person willfully hinders, delays, or obstructs any emergency responder in the discharge of his or her official powers or duties if the emergency responder is in uniform, announces he or she is an emergency responder, or a reasonable person would understand based on the totality of the circumstances that he or she is an emergency responder.
"Emergency responder" means :
Any general authority, limited authority, or specially commissioned Washington peace officer or federal peace officer as those terms are defined in RCW 10.93.020, and other public officers who are responsible for enforcement of fire, building, zoning, and life and safety codes;
Any employee or agent of a government agency or private corporation that provides firefighting, fire response, fire control, or fire suppression services, who is responding to or engaged in an active fire or rescue incident;
Any employee or agent of a government agency or private corporation that provides emergency medical transportation, care, or services, who is responding to or engaged in an active medical emergency incident;
Any emergency worker as that term is defined in RCW 38.52.010; or
Any emergency responder as that term is defined in RCW 24.60.010.
Obstructing an emergency responder is a gross misdemeanor.
Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit:
Activity protected under the Constitution of the United States or the Washington state Constitution; or
Activity undertaken by a law enforcement officer for an authorized and lawful purpose.
For the purpose of this section, "law enforcement officer" means any general authority, limited authority, or specially commissioned Washington peace officer or federal peace officer as those terms are defined in RCW 10.93.020.
Except as provided in subsection (3) of this section, no agency of any city or town, including unclassified cities or towns, including law enforcement, may use agency funds, facilities, property, equipment, or personnel to investigate, enforce, cooperate with, or assist in the investigation or enforcement of any federal registration or surveillance programs or any other laws, rules, or policies that target Washington residents, or persons working in Washington, solely on the basis of race, religion, immigration, or citizenship status, or national or ethnic origin. This subsection does not apply to any program with the primary purpose of providing persons with services or benefits, or to RCW 9.94A.685.
Except as provided in subsection (3) of this section, all agencies of cities or towns including unclassified cities or towns shall review their policies and identify and make any changes necessary to ensure that:
Information collected from individuals is limited to the minimum necessary to comply with subsection (3) of this section;
Information collected from individuals is not disclosed except as necessary to comply with subsection (3) of this section or as permitted by state or federal law;
Agency employees may not condition services or request information or proof regarding a person's immigration status, citizenship status, or place of birth; and
Public services are available to, and agency employees shall serve, all Washington residents without regard to immigration or citizenship status.
Nothing in subsection (1) or (2) of this section prohibits the collection, use, or disclosure of information that is:
Required to comply with state or federal law;
In response to a lawfully issued court order;
Necessary to perform agency duties, functions, or other business, as permitted by statute or rule, conducted by the agency that is not related to immigration enforcement;
Required to comply with policies, grants, waivers, or other requirements necessary to maintain funding; or
In the form of deidentified or aggregated data, including census data.
Any changes to agency policies required by this section must be made as expeditiously as possible, consistent with agency procedures. Final policies must be published.
Agencies of cities or towns including unclassified cities or towns shall begin implementation of this section no later than January 1, 2027, and must demonstrate full compliance by January 1, 2028.
This section applies to all agencies of cities or towns including unclassified cities or towns operating or existing in Washington on or after January 1, 2027.
Except as provided in subsection (3) of this section, no agency of any county, including law enforcement, may use agency funds, facilities, property, equipment, or personnel to investigate, enforce, cooperate with, or assist in the investigation or enforcement of any federal registration or surveillance programs or any other laws, rules, or policies that target Washington residents, or persons working in Washington, solely on the basis of race, religion, immigration, or citizenship status, or national or ethnic origin. This subsection does not apply to any program with the primary purpose of providing persons with services or benefits, or to RCW 9.94A.685.
Except as provided in subsection (3) of this section, all agencies of counties shall review their policies and identify and make any changes necessary to ensure that:
Information collected from individuals is limited to the minimum necessary to comply with subsection (3) of this section;
Information collected from individuals is not disclosed except as necessary to comply with subsection (3) of this section or as permitted by state or federal law;
Agency employees may not condition services or request information or proof regarding a person's immigration status, citizenship status, or place of birth; and
Public services are available to, and agency employees shall serve, all Washington residents without regard to immigration or citizenship status.
Nothing in subsection (1) or (2) of this section prohibits the collection, use, or disclosure of information that is:
Required to comply with state or federal law;
In response to a lawfully issued court order;
Necessary to perform agency duties, functions, or other business, as permitted by statute or rule, conducted by the agency that is not related to immigration enforcement;
Required to comply with policies, grants, waivers, or other requirements necessary to maintain funding; or
In the form of deidentified or aggregated data, including census data.
Any changes to agency policies required by this section must be made as expeditiously as possible, consistent with agency procedures. Final policies must be published.
Agencies of counties shall begin implementation of this section no later than January 1, 2027, and must demonstrate full compliance by January 1, 2028.
This section applies to all agencies of counties operating or existing in Washington on or after January 1, 2027.
Except as provided in subsection (3) of this section, no incident command system, including law enforcement, may use any state or local funds, facilities, property, equipment, or personnel to investigate, enforce, cooperate with, or assist in the investigation or enforcement of any federal registration or surveillance programs or any other laws, rules, or policies that target Washington residents, or persons working in Washington, solely on the basis of race, religion, immigration, or citizenship status, or national or ethnic origin.
Nothing in subsection (1) of this section prohibits the collection, use, or disclosure of information that is:
Required to comply with state or federal law;
In response to a lawfully issued court order;
Necessary to perform incident command system duties, functions, or other business, as permitted by statute or rule, conducted by the incident command system that is not related to immigration enforcement;
Required to comply with policies, grants, waivers, or other requirements necessary to maintain funding; or
In the form of deidentified or aggregated data, including census data.
This section applies to all incident command systems directing or coordinating emergency response activities that take place in Washington on or after January 1, 2027.
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The governor and the executive authority of each political subdivision of the state are authorized to designate any geographic area within their respective jurisdictions that contains an ongoing emergency or disaster as an emergency operation zone. The emergency operation zone may be drawn to include affected and at-risk areas, areas where emergency responders are staging or working, and reasonable buffer zones. The designating authority shall establish a duration for the emergency operation zone's existence that may not exceed 30 days, but the designating authority may modify or renew the designation as needed for emergencies or disasters that spread beyond the zone's established borders or persist beyond the zone's established duration.
Whenever a designating authority establishes or modifies an emergency operation zone it shall, as soon as practicable, publish notice of the zone's existence, borders, and duration on the designating authority's publicly accessible website and transmit a copy of the notice to all local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies the designating authority knows or reasonably expects to operate within the emergency operation zone. A notice prepared under this subsection shall include a citation to this section and the statement "INTERFERENCE WITH EMERGENCY RESPONDERS WITHIN AN EMERGENCY OPERATION ZONE IS RESTRICTED BY STATE LAW."
Except as provided in subsection (3) of this section, any law enforcement officer who enters or remains in an emergency operation zone to target an emergency responder for the purpose of enforcing a local, state, or federal law against the emergency responder, shall:
Visibly display identification in all places and at all times while present in the emergency operation zone. Identification must include, at minimum, the officer's agency name and an individual identification number the officer's employer can link to the officer's legal name and identity;
Disclose to the incident commander, emergency management authority, or designated administrator exercising delegated authority the nature and scope of the officer's intended activities within the emergency operation zone. The officer or the officer's employer must make this disclosure before the officer enters the emergency operation zone or, if the incident command team has not been established at the time of the officer's entry into the emergency operation zone, this disclosure must be made as soon as practicable after the incident command team is established;
Obtain a valid judicial warrant before undertaking any search, seizure, or arrest for which a warrant is required, and provide a copy of such warrant upon request to the emergency operation zone incident command team and the subject of the warrant; and
Refrain from disrupting emergency operations throughout the emergency operation zone or interfering with any emergency responders within the emergency operation zone, unless acting pursuant to a judicial warrant authorizing a specified search or seizure.
The requirements of subsection (2) of this section do not apply to:
Any law enforcement officer outside an emergency operation zone;
Any law enforcement officer who enters or remains in an emergency operation zone, if the officer does not intend to target an emergency responder for the purpose of enforcing a local, state, or federal law against the emergency responder;
Any law enforcement officer who is lawfully operating under a previously established assumed identity for the purpose of investigating a suspected violent offense by an emergency responder who lives, works, or is present in the emergency operation zone, if: (i) The officer is operating under an assumed identity with the knowledge and authorization of the officer's superiors, and (ii) compliance with the requirements of this section would be likely to compromise the ongoing criminal investigation of the emergency responder or endanger the investigating officer; or
Any law enforcement officer who cannot reasonably comply with the requirements of this section as a result of an ongoing search for or pursuit of an emergency responder who the officer has probable cause to believe has committed a violent offense or is about to commit a violent offense.
A violation of this section is not a criminal or civil offense and does not provide any basis for criminal or civil liability, but such violation must be reported to the attorney general.
In response to any reported violation of this section, the attorney general may:
Provide notification of the violation to the governor and any affected political subdivision of the state, the attorney general of the United States, the United States department of justice office of the inspector general, and any member or committee of the United States congress or Washington legislature;
Publish a public report on the attorney general's website that details the violation; and
Provide notification of the violation to any affected individuals and organizations, including legal advocacy organizations.
In response to any reported violation of this section by a federal officer or agent that disrupted or interfered with an emergency response or resulted in the detention or arrest of an emergency responder, the attorney general must provide notification of the violation to the attorney general of the United States and the United States department of justice office of the inspector general. The attorney general may provide additional notifications and reporting as provided in subsection (5) of this section.
The definitions in this subsection apply throughout this section unless the context clearly requires otherwise.
"Emergency operation zone" means any designated geographic area as described in subsection (1) of this section that contains an ongoing emergency or disaster.
"Emergency responder" means:
Any general authority, limited authority, or specially commissioned Washington peace officer or federal peace officer as those terms are defined in RCW 10.93.020, and other public officers who are responsible for enforcement of fire, building, zoning, and life and safety codes;
Any employee or agent of a government agency or private corporation that provides firefighting, fire response, fire control, or fire suppression services, who is responding to an active fire;
Any employee or agent of a government agency or private corporation that provides emergency medical transportation, care, or services, who is responding to an active medical emergency;
Any emergency worker as that term is defined in RCW 38.52.010; or
Any emergency responder as that term is defined in RCW 24.60.010.
"Incident command team" means the leadership of an incident command system as that term is defined in RCW 38.52.010.
"Law enforcement officer" means any employee, agent, officer, or contractor of any local or state government in the United States, or the federal government of the United States, who enforces local, state, or federal law, and who is authorized to search, seize, detain, or arrest any person.
"Violent offense" has the same meaning as provided in RCW 9.94A.030.
If any provision of this act or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of the act or the application of the provision to other persons or circumstances is not affected.
If any part of this act is found to be in conflict with federal requirements that are a prescribed condition to the allocation of federal funds to the state, the conflicting part of this act is inoperative solely to the extent of the conflict and with respect to the agencies directly affected, and this finding does not affect the operation of the remainder of this act in its application to the agencies concerned. Rules adopted under this act must meet federal requirements that are a necessary condition to the receipt of federal funds by the state.