wa-law.org > bill > 2025-26 > SB 5060 > Substitute Bill
Subject to the availability of amounts appropriated for this specific purpose, the commission shall develop and implement a law enforcement hiring grant program for the purpose of providing direct support to local and tribal law enforcement agencies in hiring law enforcement officers, peer counselors, and behavioral health personnel working in co-response to increase community policing and public safety.
Grants provide up to 75 percent of the entry-level salaries and fringe benefits of full-time local or tribal law enforcement officers, peer counselors, and behavioral health personnel working in co-response 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. These grants are intended for the purpose of increasing the number of filled local and tribal law enforcement officer positions, peer counselors, and behavioral health personnel working in co-response in Washington state. Grants shall not be awarded for any local or tribal law enforcement position if the applicant is, or has been within the previous 12 calendar months, employed by a local or tribal law enforcement agency in Washington state.
Grants must be awarded to local and tribal law enforcement agencies based on local and tribal law enforcement agency submittals to the commission. In order to qualify for a grant pursuant to this section a law enforcement agency must maintain:
Written and published policies consistent with RCW 43.17.425, 10.93.160, and the office of the attorney general's keep Washington working act guidance, model policies, and training recommendations for state and local law enforcement agencies;
Written and published policies and training on use of force approved by the criminal justice training commission;
Written and published policies and practices related to laws addressing firearm relinquishment pursuant to court orders and domestic violence 911 response requirements;
80 percent officer compliance rate with the criminal justice training commission's 40-hour crisis intervention team training; and
100 percent officer compliance rate with trauma-informed training approved by the criminal justice training commission.
The commission may provide an advance on grant funding to a law enforcement agency that does not qualify under subsection (3) of this section, but who otherwise meets the grant application criteria established by the commission, for the purposes of the agency coming into compliance with subsection (3) of this section.
Under this section the commission shall:
Establish policies for applications;
Establish and publish on the commission website the application requirements;
Establish and publish on the commission website the criteria for evaluating and selecting grant recipients;
Create a grant application form that local and tribal law enforcement agencies must use to apply for grant funding; and
Require reports from grant recipients that must include at least how the funding impacted retention rates and improved vacancy rates, and the estimated time the applying agency took from recruitment to hiring in the last closed fiscal year.
Effective July 31, 2026, and annually thereafter on July 31st, the commission must report to the appropriate committees of the legislature on:
The total count of law enforcement grant applications received by the commission by fiscal year;
The total count of law enforcement officer positions applied for by fiscal year;
The total count of grant funding requested by fiscal year;
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
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.
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, 2024, and July 1, 2025, on the:
Count of general authority Washington peace officer positions;
Count of filled general authority Washington peace officer positions;
Count of vacant general authority Washington peace officer positions; and
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.
The sum of $100,000,000, or as much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2026, from the general fund to the criminal justice training commission for the purposes of this act.