OLYMPIA, Wash. — A package of bills aimed at tightening state rules on where and how sexually violent predators can be housed is now in jeopardy. Tri-Cities lawmakers helped push this legislative effort after a less restrictive alternative (LRA) was proposed in a Kennewick neighborhood.
Out of eight proposed bills, only one reached a hearing. The Senate Human Services Committee heard arguments on Senate Bill 6339, which seeks to ensure that anyone running an LRA is directly involved in managing the offenders’ treatment. However, it did not advance out of committee before a key deadline.
Senate Bill 6339 would require that anyone who owns an LRA be directly involved in providing or monitoring treatment to sexually violent predators on that property. Sen. Nikki Torres, R-Pasco, and Sen. Matt Boehnke, R-Kennewick, sponsored this bill to prevent out-of-area investors from profiting from the program. Torres specifically referred to the LRA opening in Kennewick.
“The owners, or in this case, investors, reside on the west side of the state and have not physically seen the house they purchased. If the contract is approved by DHHS, the investors receive approximately $20,000 per resident per month that they are housing,” Sen. Torres said.
“This is now coming to communities and to cities like ours in the Tri-Cities, but across the state of Washington, where a really bad program is cultivating a business where people are going to make money off of this program,” Sen. Boehnke said.
The Department of Social and Health Services voiced concerns during the hearing. They noted that some LRA properties are owned by property management companies, and requiring treatment providers to also own the homes could make it difficult to implement the legislation.
“Residents’ treatment in the community is the responsibility of a certified sex offender treatment provider. To require providers to also own and operate a less restrictive alternative, which their client resides in, is a potential conflict of interest by creating what is called a dual relationship, which is heavily scrutinized and could actually be prohibited under various Washington regulations,” Tony Bowie with the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services said.
After public comments at the Senate Committee meeting, Spokane Valley Senator Leonard Christian called for an executive session to advance the bill. However, Senator Claire Wilson of Federal Way objected, stating it was not ready. With the deadline to get bills out of committee passing, there is no clear path for how any proposed regulations on LRAs could become law this year.
