In their ongoing battle to reform Washington state’s civil commitment system for sexually violent predators (SVPs), state Reps. Dan Griffey, R-Allyn, and Travis Couture, R-Allyn, delivered what they called “a public safety victory” on Monday, as the House passed their bill to better monitor
SVPs who are released from indefinite commitment into a less restrictive alternative (LRA).
SVPs are defined as offenders who suffer from a “mental abnormality or personality disorder which makes the person likely to engage in predatory acts of sexual violence” and are considered the most likely to reoffend.
While the law previously allowed SVPs to be committed indefinitely, court challenges mean SVPs must receive treatment and assessments to determine if the treatment was sufficient. If so, the offender can qualify to be released to either a secure transition facility run by the state, or an LRA, typically run by a third party.
Residents of Tenino rallied against a proposed LRA facility in January 2023. In that case, a community meeting was scheduled less than a month before the facility was scheduled to open.
After extended backlash, the third-party operator who planned the facility announced it would not move forward with the project. According to previous reporting by The Chronicle, the third-party operator stated “that due to resources and expenses associated with land use requirements, it will not proceed with providing supportive housing services at its Tenino property.”
House Bill 1457, which was passed in the Washington state House of Representatives on Monday, requires all SVPs released into LRAs to wear technologically-advanced ankle monitors that are virtually tamper-proof and provide real-time GPS data to protect against escapes from LRA group homes and “other dangerous situations we have already seen,” Griffey and Couture said in a news release.
“I want to thank my colleagues in the House for passing this important bill that greatly increases our ability to track SVPs in real time to ensure our families are safe,” said Griffey. “This adds a strong layer of protection to keep communities safer, but it is only one of the many steps we must take to fully reform this system and truly protect our most vulnerable Washingtonians. We will continue to work for a full overhaul of the SVP civil commitment system.”
“This new monitoring system will make communities safer, and I am glad to see it pass,” said Couture. “But there are major gaps in the current SVP civil commitment system that range from the level of treatment sexually violent predators receive, how and where they are released, security and oversight, and community and law enforcement notification, among other issues. Dan and I have worked for years with stakeholders trying to reform this system. We will continue to fight to put the safety of Washingtonians where it should be — at the top of the priority list.”
Griffey and Couture also sponsored House Bill 1451, which would have required that all less restrictive alternatives, group homes, where SVPs are granted conditional release in communities across the state, be owned, operated, or contracted by the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) to ensure transparency and accountability.
The bill would have barred an SVP from proposing their own LRA placement before DSHS can identify and suggest one of its own, LRA housing from being placed within 500 feet of where children are known to congregate and required a 60-day notice to law enforcement in a county where DSHS is considering LRA housing, as well as other conditions before siting.
“The chair of the Community Safety Committee refused to give the bill a hearing,” Couture and Griffey stated in a news release.
