wa-law.org > bill > 2025-26 > SB 5853 > Original Bill
On June 14, 2025, Minnesota house of representatives speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman of the democratic caucus and her husband Mark Hortman were stalked and murdered. On that same day, Minnesota state senator of the democratic caucus John Hoffman and his wife Yvette Hoffman were stalked and shot by the same alleged individual who murdered representative Hortman and her husband.
It is the intent of the legislature to streamline more efficient communication and prevent needless violence by creating an optional emergency notification system for public officials. This system will alert all public officials as soon as practicable when any enrolled public official contacts a 911 emergency communications system and upon confirmation of a targeted threat to any public official. Had an emergency notification system been implemented in Minnesota, senator Hoffman and his wife could have been notified of representative Hortman and her husband's murder and taken whatever precautions necessary to avoid harm.
Therefore, this statewide emergency public official notification system promotes more efficient communication under urgent circumstances to share substantive and useful information between first responders and public officials. This will prevent needless violence and promote safety for all of Washington's public figures in the years to come.
The secretary of state, with the assistance of the military department, shall establish a statewide emergency public official notification system that:
Notifies all public officials that they may voluntarily enroll in the statewide emergency public official notification system. The secretary of state must:
Provide enrollment information about the emergency public official notification system to all newly elected public officials within 30 days of the commencement of their term; and
Provide enrollment information about the emergency public official notification system to all current public officials within 30 days of the effective date of this section;
Maintains a database of public officials who have voluntarily enrolled in the statewide emergency public official notification system; and
Provides emergency notification to all public officials as soon as practicable when any enrolled public official contacts a 911 emergency communications system and upon confirmation of a targeted threat to any public official, enrolled or not. This emergency notification must not include the name, address, or personal information of the individuals who contact the 911 emergency communications system and likewise any individuals targeted.
The secretary of state, with the assistance of the military department, shall ensure that information submitted to the statewide emergency public official notification system is shared with the statewide 911 emergency communications system as defined in RCW 82.14B.020, to be contained in a database that is intended for the purpose of display at a public safety answering point with incoming 911 voice or data, which is exempt from public inspection and copying under chapter 42.56 RCW.
The secretary of state shall establish rules and procedures for:
Enrollment in the statewide emergency public official notification system;
Notification of public officials of enrollment eligibility;
Emergency notification of all public officials in the event of a 911 emergency communication by an enrolled public official; and
Data storage which must be in compliance with existing data protection practices used by law enforcement and the secretary of state.
For the purposes of this section, "public official" means a person holding office under a city, county, or state government, or the federal government who performs a public function and in so doing is vested with the exercise of some sovereign power of government, and includes all assistants, deputies, clerks, and employees of any public officer and all persons lawfully exercising or assuming to exercise any of the powers or functions of a public officer.
A state 911 coordination office, headed by the state 911 coordinator, is established in the emergency management division of the department. Duties of the office include:
Except as provided in subsection (2) of this section, records maintained by the secretary of state and military department for the statewide emergency public official notification system is exempt from public inspection and copying under section 5 of this act.
Information maintained by the secretary of state for the statewide emergency public official notification system may be provided to a public official upon a request for inspection.
All or part of any records, reports, data, or information contained therein maintained by the secretary of state and military department for the statewide emergency public official notification system under chapter 38.52 RCW are exempt from disclosure under this chapter, except as provided in section 4(2) of this act.