wa-law.org > bill > 2025-26 > HB 2576 > Original Bill
The legislature finds that persons attempting to escape from domestic violence, harassment, sexual assault, stalking, or trafficking frequently establish new addresses in order to prevent their assailants from finding them. This new address, however, is only useful if an assailant does not discover it. The purpose of this chapter is to enable state and local agencies to accept the address designated by the secretary of state as the participant's actual address, to respond to requests for public records without disclosing the location of a victim , and to enable interagency cooperation with the secretary of state in providing address confidentiality for victims . The legislature further intends to provide assistance to program participants who own or desire to own property in the state to protect such ownership from public disclosure.
Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, the definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter.
1.A program application must be filed in the manner and on the form prescribed by the secretary of state and contain:
a. The full legal name and date of birth of the applicant;
b. The full legal name and date of birth of any person who resides with the applicant;
c. A sworn statement, under penalty of perjury, by the applicant that : (i) The applicant has good reason to believe that the applicant, or the minor or incapacitated person on whose behalf the application is made, is a victim of domestic violence, harassment, sexual assault, stalking, or trafficking
, and indicate whether or not the applicant believes the applicant was victimized by an employee of a law enforcement agency; (ii) that the disclosure of the applicant's address would endanger the applicant's safety or the safety of the applicant's children or the minor or incapacitated person on whose behalf the application is made; and (iii) that the applicant has confidentially relocated or will confidentially relocate in the state;
d. A designation of the secretary of state as agent for purposes of service of process and for the purpose of receipt of mail;
e. The residential address of the applicant in the state of Washington;
f. The mailing address to which mail should be sent if different from the applicant's residential address;
g. The phone number or numbers where the applicant can be called by the secretary of state;
h. A signed acknowledgment of adult persons residing with the applicant and participating in the program, designating the secretary of state as an agent for purpose of services of process and for the purpose of receipt of mail;
i. The signature of the applicant and of any application assistant who assisted in the preparation of the application; and
j. The date on which the applicant signed the application.
2.
a. During the application process, the secretary of state shall provide each applicant a form to direct the department of licensing to change the address of registration for vehicles or vessels solely or jointly registered to the applicant and the address associated with the applicant's driver's license or identicard to the applicant's address as designated by the secretary of state upon certification in the program. The directive to the department of licensing is only valid if signed by the applicant. The directive may only include information required by the department of licensing to verify the applicant's identity and ownership information for vehicles and vessels. This information is limited to the:
i. Applicant's full legal name;
ii. Applicant's Washington driver's license or identicard number;
iii. Applicant's date of birth;
iv. Vehicle identification number and license plate number for each vehicle solely or jointly registered to the applicant; and
v. Hull identification number or vessel document number and vessel decal number for each vessel solely or jointly registered to the applicant.
b. Upon certification of the applicants, the secretary of state shall transmit completed and signed directives to the department of licensing.
c. Within 30 days of receiving a completed and signed directive, the department of licensing shall update the applicant's address on registration and licensing records.
d. Applicants are not required to sign the directive to the department of licensing to be certified as a program participant.
(a) Upon determining that an application has been properly completed, the secretary of state shall certify the applicant and those residing with the applicant as program participants.
Participants shall be certified for four years following the date of certification unless the certification is withdrawn or invalidated before that date.
The secretary of state shall by rule establish a renewal procedure.
Certification of a program participant shall be canceled if the participant: (a) Obtains a legal change of identity; (b) requests cancellation; (c) knowingly submits false information on the program application; or (d) is deceased.
Certification of a program participant may be canceled if:
within 72 hours of the change; or
b. Mail forwarded by the secretary to the program participant's address is returned as nondeliverable, refused, or unclaimed.
The program participant , not the secretary of state, is responsible for requesting that state and local government agencies use the participant's substitute address as the participant's residential, work, or school address for all purposes for which agencies request such residential, work, or school address.
When the program participant submits a current and valid address confidentiality program authorization card to the agency, the agency is required to accept the substitute address as the participant's residential, work, or school address when creating a new public record, unless :
The secretary of state has determined that:
The agency has a bona fide statutory or administrative requirement for the use of the address which would otherwise be confidential under this chapter; and
This address will be used only for those statutory and administrative purposes; and
There is no possible workaround.
Public records containing the residential address of a program participant under subsection (2) of this section are exempt from public inspection and copying under chapter 42.56 RCW.
The office of the secretary of state shall receive first-class, certified, or registered mail on behalf of a program participant and forward it to the participant.
A designated election official as defined in RCW 29A.04.058, shall use the actual address of a program participant for precinct designation and shall keep the participant's actual address confidential from the public. The election official shall use the substitute address for all correspondence and mailing placed in the United States mail. The substitute address shall not be used as an address for voter registration.
Neither the name nor the address of a program participant shall be included in any list of registered voters available to the public. The provisions of this section shall apply only to program participants who submit a current and valid address confidentiality program card when registering to vote.
The provisions of this section do not apply to a program participant who registers to vote without submitting a protected records voter registration through the address confidentiality program or designated election official.
The secretary of state may not make any records in a program participant's file available for inspection or copying, other than the address designated by the secretary of state, except under the following circumstances:
If requested by a law enforcement agency, to the law enforcement agency, if:
The participant's application contains no indication that he or she has been a victim of domestic violence, harassment, sexual assault, stalking, or trafficking perpetrated by a law enforcement employee; and
The request is in accordance with official law enforcement duties and is in writing on official law enforcement letterhead stationery and signed by the law enforcement agency's chief officer, or his or her designee;
If directed by a court order, to a person identified in the order
as provided in RCW 40.24.075; or
The secretary of state shall designate state and local agencies and nonprofit agencies that provide counseling and shelter services to victims of domestic violence, harassment, sexual assault, stalking, or trafficking to assist persons applying to be program participants. Application assistants will be trained by the secretary of state. Any assistance and counseling rendered by the office of the secretary of state or its designees to applicants shall in no way be construed as legal advice.
The secretary of state shall enter into an interagency agreement with the office of civil legal aid to develop and make available information, online self-help resources, and other legal aid services to help participants to own property in the state without public disclosure of such ownership. The secretary of state and the state and local agencies and nonprofit agencies designated by the secretary of state under RCW 40.24.080 shall publicize the availability of legal resources and assistance under this section to program participants and applicants. The secretary of state may not provide direct legal resources and assistance to participants. No fee may be charged to the participants for legal assistance under this section. This section creates no individual right to legal assistance or representation in litigation at public expense.