State Reps. Dan Griffey and Travis Couture, both Republicans from Allyn, have introduced a bill placing a moratorium on the state’s plans to release sexually violent predators (SVPs) into low security homes in residential communities across Washington state.
The issue has been the source of anger and frustration in the Tenino area as residents have opposed the placement of sex offenders at Supreme Living facility near Maytown.
House Bill 1813 would allow the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) to house civilly committed sex offenders only in secure facilities on McNeil Island or one secure transition facility in south Seattle. The bill would also prevent the state from utilizing any new facilities.
"This is a dangerous practice that leaves children and families at risk. Families — and law enforcement — are only finding out about these placements at the last minute with virtually no chance to have a say. The existing policy is unworkable," Griffey said. "It is time the state of Washington prioritizes the public's safety."
Couture said the bill would immediately end plans to house sex offenders close to schools, parks and recreational areas.
"This bill would force our state government to do its fundamental job of protecting innocent people from high-risk sex offenders and give us time to develop a reasonable, long-term plan," Couture said. “People are rightfully outraged about the lack of security in these private facilities.”
SVPs are not imprisoned in facilities, they are instead committed to a rehabilitation program due to their high likelihood of reoffending.
A level two sex offender fled from a Supreme Living Facility in Thurston County in December 2021, according to a recent report from FOX 13.
According to Griffey and Couture’s statement, during a recent DSHS sponsored event in Enumclaw, a King County Sexual Assault Resource Center leader apparently stated it was the job of parents to teach their children and keep them safe from sex offenders.
"We should not have to be explaining to our kids why our government is placing the most sexually violent predators in our state into unsecure facilities in our communities. If this is not happening in your community yet, it will be. It is just a matter of time,” Couture said. "These unreal and tone-deaf comments from the very government funded organization tasked with advocating for victims of sexual violence are unacceptable. This 'safety plan' is like teaching your kids how to swim and then having the state drop sharks into the pool."
Couture is also sponsoring HB 1734, which would close the public notice loophole in the process of placing SVPs into less restrictive alternative (LRA) housing. A similar bill is being sponsored in the state Senate by Sen. Drew MacEwan, R-Shelton, who is sponsoring Senate BIll 5544 with Sen. Christine Rolfes, D-Bainbridge Island.
The issue of sex offender housing extends beyond Thurston County as more localities learn LRA homes for SVPs are planned in their areas under the state’s “fair share” statute. The law was created when the Legislature passed SB 5163 in 2021, ensuring SVPs were placed in their county of commitment in an effort to stop the disproportionate release of SVPs into one or two counties.
Washington became the first state in the nation to enact a civil commitment law for SVPs when it passed the 1990 Community Protection Act.
SVPs are defined as someone deemed by an expert to suffer from a "mental abnormality or personality disorder which makes the person likely to engage in predatory acts of sexual violence" if released into the community.
The law allows prosecutors to petition the court to block the prison release of a sex offender who has served their sentence and meets the criteria of an SVP to have them diverted to civil commitment for treatment at McNeil Island indefinitely if it can be proven at trial that they meet the standard. SVPs are considered the most likely to reoffend.
SB 5163 requires annual verification that civilly committed SVPs still meet the criteria. The law also allows SVPs to petition for conditional and unconditional release into LRAs in communities. But the bill left loopholes in the public notice process creating the current situation of neighborhoods surprised to discover homes for SVPs are planned or being planned in their communities under the “fair share” rule. Such discoveries have been made in Tenino, Enumclaw, Kent and Snohomish County.
"Residential communities are getting blindsided," said Couture. "What most people want is to place sexually violent predators subject to civil commitment on McNeil Island. The state should be prepared to bear the costs of McNeil Island so families in our state can sleep safe at night."
Couture and Griffey’s statement states the two legislators collaborated on HB 1813 because they do not believe closing the public notice loophole is enough to address the current situation. In addition to the moratorium, HB 1813 would create a work group focused on improvements promoting public safety and community input to provide recommendations on the siting of secure community transition facilities, with a report due by June 30, 2024. The bill also contains an emergency clause causing the moratorium to go into effect immediately upon passage.
"I have spent my time in the Legislature fighting for survivors of sexual assault, including my own family," said Griffey. "The fact that this is the policy we have on the books in Washington state in 2023 is an embarrassment and a threat to all families regardless of what your politics are."
According to Couture and Griffey, Gov. Jay Inslee has expressed interest in helping with the issue. The legislators hope their bill can get a committee hearing before a key committee deadline at the end of the current week, though Inslee and his staff have yet to weigh in prior to the deadline. Couture and Griffey said even if their bill does not get a committee vote before the deadline, they plan to continue pushing the legislation and encourage anyone who supports changing the law to reach out to the state House Community Safety, Justice and Reentry Committee, the state Senate Human Services Committee and Inslee’s office.
