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House Republicans repeat
call for special session
on public safety reforms
‘We don’t
need more studies. We need action,’ say House GOP leaders
With lawmakers scheduled
to be in Olympia next week,
Washington
House Republicans are again calling on the governor and fellow
legislators to convene a special session to pass common-sense bills to
improve public safety.
For the past several
years, House Republicans have led the charge for much-needed
common-sense changes to public safety laws, particularly those dealing
with sex offenders. However, when loopholes in state laws came to light
after the tragic death of
Zina Linnik this July, they called on the governor to hold a special
session to pass legislation to address sex offenders who shirk their
responsibility to register and endanger families.
“Washington was a leader
in child protection 10 years ago, but today our state is a follower. The
Legislature will be in Olympia next week to do important work on all
types of issues, but what families are asking me is, ‘what could be more
important than protecting our children?’” said
House Republican
Leader Rep. Richard DeBolt, R-Chehalis. “We don’t need to wait
until January to make common-sense changes to our public safety laws.
Twenty-three other states have already updated their laws and technology
to better monitor sex offenders and they’re seeing excellent results. We
don’t need more studies. We need action.”
House Republicans drafted
several bills for the Legislature to consider next week, which were also
sent to the governor and her sex offender task force. House Republican
legislation would:
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Update Washington’s
tracking technology;
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Increase penalties for
sex offenders who fail to register;
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Allow for community
notification of all sex offenders who fail to register;
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Require DNA
registration for all sex offenders;
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Add email and internet
address registration for sex offenders;
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Provide more tools for
community corrections officers to better supervise offenders;
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Help federal
authorities enforce immigration laws as applicable to sex offenders;
and
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Allow released sex
offenders subject to deportation to be turned over to federal
authorities.
“The governor agrees with
many of our proposals, but has suggested the Legislature study them
more. The tragic case of Zina Linnik struck a chord with my constituents
and I can tell you they’re not asking me to ‘study’ the issues of
tracking sex offenders and holding them accountable. They’re telling me
to solve the problems in the system that led to the recent
tragedy so it doesn’t happen again,” said
Rep. Skip Priest,
R-Federal Way. “I’m asking the governor to do the right thing and take
action next week. More delays and studies put children at risk.”
Priest added that House
Republican proposals have received broad support, and are common-sense
updates to laws that will better protect families.
“The system as a whole
must be updated, but we can pass legislation that moves us closer to
having a system that protects more kids,” said
Rep. Kirk Pearson, lead
Republican on the
House Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Committee. “Along
with the eight proposals we’ve put before the Legislature, I introduced
legislation that would constitutionally authorize community corrections
officers to conduct random, unannounced searches of sex offenders’
residences to make sure they are following the rules of their release.
We must be proactive in tracking sex offenders.”
Pearson said that without
structural changes in the staffing and caseloads at the
Department of
Corrections, the system will fail.
"Along with our
common-sense proposals to update our laws for greater community
protections, we have to repair our broken corrections system and that
means more tools and more staffing,” said Pearson, R-Monroe. “We can
start the repairs by taking action next week.”
House Republicans sent a
letter to the governor in August requesting a special session to update
laws to better monitor and track sex offenders released to finish their
sentences in communities statewide. To date, no response to the request
has been received.
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For more interviews, contact:
Rep. Richard DeBolt: (360) 786-7896
Rep. Skip Priest: (360) 786-7830
Rep. Kirk Pearson: (360) 793-0565
For more information, contact:
Bobbi Cussins, Public Information Officer: (360) 786-7252
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