CERTIFICATION OF ENROLLMENT
SUBSTITUTE SENATE BILL 5427
Chapter 299, Laws of 2024
68th Legislature
2024 Regular Session
HATE CRIMES AND BIAS INCIDENTS HOTLINE
EFFECTIVE DATE: January 1, 2025
Passed by the Senate February 7, 2024 CERTIFICATE
Yeas 30 Nays 18
I, Sarah Bannister, Secretary of
the Senate of the State of
DENNY HECK Washington, do hereby certify that
President of the Senate the attached is SUBSTITUTE SENATE
BILL 5427 as passed by the Senate
and the House of Representatives on
the dates hereon set forth.
Passed by the House February 28, 2024
Yeas 56 Nays 39
SARAH BANNISTER
LAURIE JINKINS Secretary
Speaker of the House of
Representatives
Approved March 26, 2024 1:48 PM FILED
March 27, 2024
Secretary of State
JAY INSLEE State of Washington
Governor of the State of Washington
 SUBSTITUTE SENATE BILL 5427
Passed Legislature - 2024 Regular Session
State of Washington 68th Legislature 2024 Regular Session
By Senate Ways & Means (originally sponsored by Senators Valdez,
Billig, Cleveland, Dhingra, Frame, Hasegawa, Hunt, Keiser, Kuderer,
Liias, Lovelett, Lovick, Saldaña, Salomon, Stanford, and C. Wilson)
READ FIRST TIME 02/05/24.
1 AN ACT Relating to supporting people who have been targeted or
2 affected by hate crimes and bias incidents by establishing a
3 reporting hotline and tracking hate crimes and bias incidents;
4 amending RCW 42.56.240; adding a new section to chapter 43.10 RCW;
5 creating new sections; and providing an effective date.
6 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
7 NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. A new section is added to chapter 43.10
8 RCW to read as follows:
9 (1) The attorney general's office shall oversee a hate crimes and
10 bias incidents hotline staffed during business hours and dedicated to
11 assisting people who have been targeted or affected by hate crimes
12 and bias incidents. The hotline shall:
13 (a) Provide appropriate information and referral to people who
14 have been targeted or affected by hate crimes and bias incidents that
15 is victim-centered, culturally competent, and trauma-informed;
16 (b) Be as accessible to as many residents of Washington as
17 possible, regardless of language proficiency, as much as is
18 practically possible within the limits of the resources appropriated
19 to operate the hotline.
20 (2)(a) The attorney general's office shall:
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 1 (i) To the extent possible, identify local service providers and
2 culturally specific services to refer people who have been targeted
3 or affected by hate crimes and bias incidents;
4 (ii) Coordinate and partner with other counties and any other
5 hotlines relevant to the hotline; and
6 (iii) Establish and appoint an advisory committee that will
7 include, among others, representatives from legal aid, at least five
8 community organizations working with historically underserved
9 communities across the state, local and culturally specific service
10 providers, state agencies, and any other entities the attorney
11 general's office deems relevant to the program. The advisory
12 committee shall provide advice and assistance regarding program
13 design, operation, outreach, service delivery objectives and
14 priorities, and funding.
15 (b) To ensure that the advisory committee has diverse and
16 inclusive representation of those affected by its work, advisory
17 committee members shall be compensated as provided in RCW 43.03.220.
18 (c) Advisory committee members are not entitled to be reimbursed
19 for travel expenses if they are elected officials or are
20 participating on behalf of an employer, governmental entity, or other
21 organization.
22 (d)(i) By July 1, 2025, the attorney general's office must
23 develop and implement a pilot hotline program that will assist
24 individuals targeted or affected by hate crimes in at least three
25 counties. One of those counties must be in eastern Washington.
26 (ii) By January 1, 2027, the attorney general's office must
27 implement the program statewide.
28 (e) No later than July 1, 2027, and at least annually thereafter,
29 the attorney general's office must provide information regarding hate
30 crimes and bias incidents reported to the hotline during the prior
31 calendar year to the governor, senate, and house of representatives,
32 and make the information publicly available on its website, excluding
33 the personal identifying information of any individual.
34 (f) Any information regarding hate crimes or bias incidents that
35 reveals the personal identifying information of any individual: (i)
36 Must not be included in any public report prepared in accordance with
37 this section; and (ii) is confidential and exempt from public
38 inspection, copying, or disclosure under chapter 42.56 RCW.
39 (3) Any law enforcement agency in this state that receives a
40 report of a hate crime or bias incident shall provide the phone
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 1 number and website address of the hotline to the targeted or affected
2 person.
3 (4) Whenever a hate crime is reported to the hotline by a member
4 of the public, the hotline shall inquire whether the person reported
5 the hate crime or bias incident to law enforcement. If the person
6 targeted or affected by the hate crime or bias incident consents to
7 sharing personal identifying information with the primary local law
8 enforcement agency of the jurisdiction in which the hate crime or
9 bias incident occurred, the hotline shall promptly share the targeted
10 or affected person's name, address, and contact information with the
11 primary local law enforcement agency. If the targeted or affected
12 person consents to share some but not all personal identifying
13 information, the hotline must share only the information the targeted
14 or affected person has consented to share.
15 (5) The definitions in this subsection apply throughout this
16 section unless the context clearly requires otherwise.
17 (a) "Bias incident" means a person's hostile expression of animus
18 toward another person, relating to the other person's actual or
19 perceived characteristics as listed in RCW 9A.36.080(1) or
20 49.60.030(1), of which criminal investigation or prosecution is
21 impossible or inappropriate. "Bias incident" does not include any
22 incident in which probable cause of the commission of a crime is
23 established by the investigating law enforcement officer, and does
24 not include expressions of opposition or support for the actions or
25 policies of a foreign or domestic government protected under free
26 speech.
27 (b) "Hate crime" means the commission, attempted commission, or
28 alleged commission of an offense described in RCW 9A.36.080.
29 (c) "Hate crimes and bias incidents hotline" or "hotline" means
30 the communications channel or channels overseen by the attorney
31 general's office pursuant to this section.
32 (d) "Law enforcement agency" means any general or limited
33 authority Washington law enforcement agency as those terms are
34 defined in RCW 10.93.020.
35 (e) "Law enforcement officer" means any general authority,
36 limited authority, or specially commissioned Washington peace officer
37 as those terms are defined in RCW 10.93.020.
38 (f) "Local service providers" means providers of services to
39 people who have been targeted or affected by hate crimes and bias
40 incidents, including without limitation crisis intervention,
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 1 advocacy, information and referral, and outreach and awareness, that
2 are located in the same geographic area that the hate crime or bias
3 incident occurred or where the targeted or affected person resides.
4 (g) "Personal identifying information" means any information that
5 can be used to distinguish or trace an individual's identity, such as
6 name, prior legal name, alias, mother's maiden name, date or place of
7 birth, residence, mailing address, telephone number, email address,
8 social security number, driver's license number, bank account number,
9 or other similar information.
10 (h) "Protected class" means a class of individuals who are
11 members of, or perceived as being members of, a group based on one or
12 more of the following shared characteristics: Race, color, religion,
13 ancestry, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender
14 expression or identity, or mental, physical, or sensory disability.
15 Sec. 2. RCW 42.56.240 and 2022 c 268 s 31 are each amended to
16 read as follows:
17 The following investigative, law enforcement, and crime victim
18 information is exempt from public inspection and copying under this
19 chapter:
20 (1) Specific intelligence information and specific investigative
21 records compiled by investigative, law enforcement, and penology
22 agencies, and state agencies vested with the responsibility to
23 discipline members of any profession, the nondisclosure of which is
24 essential to effective law enforcement or for the protection of any
25 person's right to privacy;
26 (2) Information revealing the identity of persons who are
27 witnesses to or victims of crime or who file complaints with
28 investigative, law enforcement, or penology agencies, other than the
29 commission, if disclosure would endanger any person's life, physical
30 safety, or property. If at the time a complaint is filed the
31 complainant, victim, or witness indicates a desire for disclosure or
32 nondisclosure, such desire shall govern. However, all complaints
33 filed with the commission about any elected official or candidate for
34 public office must be made in writing and signed by the complainant
35 under oath;
36 (3) Any records of investigative reports prepared by any state,
37 county, municipal, or other law enforcement agency pertaining to sex
38 offenses contained in chapter 9A.44 RCW or sexually violent offenses
39 as defined in RCW 71.09.020, which have been transferred to the
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 1 Washington association of sheriffs and police chiefs for permanent
2 electronic retention and retrieval pursuant to RCW 40.14.070(2)(b);
3 (4) License applications under RCW 9.41.070, except that copies
4 of license applications or information on the applications may be
5 released to law enforcement or corrections agencies or to persons and
6 entities as authorized under RCW 9.41.815;
7 (5) Information revealing the specific details that describe an
8 alleged or proven child victim of sexual assault under age eighteen,
9 or the identity or contact information of an alleged or proven child
10 victim of sexual assault who is under age eighteen. Identifying
11 information includes the child victim's name, addresses, location,
12 photograph, and in cases in which the child victim is a relative,
13 stepchild, or stepsibling of the alleged perpetrator, identification
14 of the relationship between the child and the alleged perpetrator.
15 Contact information includes phone numbers, email addresses, social
16 media profiles, and user names and passwords;
17 (6) Information contained in a local or regionally maintained
18 gang database as well as the statewide gang database referenced in
19 RCW 43.43.762;
20 (7) Data from the electronic sales tracking system established in
21 RCW 69.43.165;
22 (8) Information submitted to the statewide unified sex offender
23 notification and registration program under RCW 36.28A.040(6) by a
24 person for the purpose of receiving notification regarding a
25 registered sex offender, including the person's name, residential
26 address, and email address;
27 (9) Personally identifying information collected by law
28 enforcement agencies pursuant to local security alarm system programs
29 and vacation crime watch programs. Nothing in this subsection shall
30 be interpreted so as to prohibit the legal owner of a residence or
31 business from accessing information regarding his or her residence or
32 business;
33 (10) The felony firearm offense conviction database of felony
34 firearm offenders established in RCW 43.43.822;
35 (11) The identity of a state employee or officer who has in good
36 faith filed a complaint with an ethics board, as provided in RCW
37 42.52.410, or who has in good faith reported improper governmental
38 action, as defined in RCW 42.40.020, to the auditor or other public
39 official, as defined in RCW 42.40.020;
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 1 (12) The following security threat group information collected
2 and maintained by the department of corrections pursuant to RCW
3 72.09.745: (a) Information that could lead to the identification of a
4 person's security threat group status, affiliation, or activities;
5 (b) information that reveals specific security threats associated
6 with the operation and activities of security threat groups; and (c)
7 information that identifies the number of security threat group
8 members, affiliates, or associates;
9 (13) The global positioning system data that would indicate the
10 location of the residence of an employee or worker of a criminal
11 justice agency as defined in RCW 10.97.030;
12 (14) Body worn camera recordings to the extent nondisclosure is
13 essential for the protection of any person's right to privacy as
14 described in RCW 42.56.050, including, but not limited to, the
15 circumstances enumerated in (a) of this subsection. A law enforcement
16 or corrections agency shall not disclose a body worn camera recording
17 to the extent the recording is exempt under this subsection.
18 (a) Disclosure of a body worn camera recording is presumed to be
19 highly offensive to a reasonable person under RCW 42.56.050 to the
20 extent it depicts:
21 (i)(A) Any areas of a medical facility, counseling, or
22 therapeutic program office where:
23 (I) A patient is registered to receive treatment, receiving
24 treatment, waiting for treatment, or being transported in the course
25 of treatment; or
26 (II) Health care information is shared with patients, their
27 families, or among the care team; or
28 (B) Information that meets the definition of protected health
29 information for purposes of the health insurance portability and
30 accountability act of 1996 or health care information for purposes of
31 chapter 70.02 RCW;
32 (ii) The interior of a place of residence where a person has a
33 reasonable expectation of privacy;
34 (iii) An intimate image;
35 (iv) A minor;
36 (v) The body of a deceased person;
37 (vi) The identity of or communications from a victim or witness
38 of an incident involving domestic violence as defined in RCW
39 10.99.020 or sexual assault as defined in RCW 70.125.030, or
40 disclosure of intimate images as defined in RCW 9A.86.010. If at the
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 1 time of recording the victim or witness indicates a desire for
2 disclosure or nondisclosure of the recorded identity or
3 communications, such desire shall govern; or
4 (vii) The identifiable location information of a community-based
5 domestic violence program as defined in RCW 70.123.020, or emergency
6 shelter as defined in RCW 70.123.020.
7 (b) The presumptions set out in (a) of this subsection may be
8 rebutted by specific evidence in individual cases.
9 (c) In a court action seeking the right to inspect or copy a body
10 worn camera recording, a person who prevails against a law
11 enforcement or corrections agency that withholds or discloses all or
12 part of a body worn camera recording pursuant to (a) of this
13 subsection is not entitled to fees, costs, or awards pursuant to RCW
14 42.56.550 unless it is shown that the law enforcement or corrections
15 agency acted in bad faith or with gross negligence.
16 (d) A request for body worn camera recordings must:
17 (i) Specifically identify a name of a person or persons involved
18 in the incident;
19 (ii) Provide the incident or case number;
20 (iii) Provide the date, time, and location of the incident or
21 incidents; or
22 (iv) Identify a law enforcement or corrections officer involved
23 in the incident or incidents.
24 (e)(i) A person directly involved in an incident recorded by the
25 requested body worn camera recording, an attorney representing a
26 person directly involved in an incident recorded by the requested
27 body worn camera recording, a person or his or her attorney who
28 requests a body worn camera recording relevant to a criminal