This bill amends RCW 13.40.740 to require law enforcement to give any person under 18 access to an attorney for consultation (in person, by telephone, or by videoconference) before the juvenile may waive constitutional rights when an officer questions the juvenile during a custodial interrogation, detains the juvenile on probable cause of involvement in criminal activity, or requests the juvenile’s consent to an evidentiary search of the juvenile or the juvenile’s property, dwellings, or vehicles under their control. The consultation requirement may not be waived. After consulting with counsel, a juvenile may assert constitutional rights directly or by directing a parent, guardian, or counsel to assert them, and any waiver of rights must meet the requirements of RCW 13.40.140. The bill makes statements obtained after such contact inadmissible in juvenile offender or adult criminal court unless one of three narrow conditions is met: the juvenile was provided access to an attorney and then knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily waived rights after being fully informed under RCW 13.40.140; the statement is used only for impeachment; or the statement was made spontaneously. It creates limited exceptions allowing officers to question a juvenile without providing the consultation if the officer believes the juvenile is a trafficking victim (information obtained under that exception cannot be used in any prosecution of that juvenile), if the officer reasonably believes immediate information is necessary to protect life and delay would impede protection (and questioning is limited to matters necessary to protect life), or if the officer detains a juvenile on probable cause of involvement in both a criminal street gang-related offense and a violent or serious violent offense as defined in RCW 9.94A.030. The bill defines “juvenile” as anyone under 18 and defines “law enforcement officer” to include Washington and federal peace officers as defined in RCW 10.93.020, expressly including school resource officers (RCW 28A.320.124) and certain public officers enforcing fire, building, zoning, and life and safety codes. Affected parties include juveniles, law enforcement officers, parents and guardians, and attorneys representing juveniles. The text refers to several other statutes (RCW 13.40.140, RCW 9A.40.100, RCW 9.94A.030, RCW 10.93.020, RCW 28A.320.124) for definitions and waiver procedures; those texts and an effective or operative date are not included here, so full legal interpretation is incomplete without them.

If passed, the practical effect is that police and other public officers will have to give anyone under 18 access to a lawyer (in person, by phone, or by video) before questioning them in custody, detaining them on probable cause, or asking to search them or their stuff; that access cannot be waived and statements made without it generally can’t be used in juvenile or adult court except in narrow situations. This will change day-to-day policing: officers including school resource officers will need procedures, training, and ways to connect juveniles with counsel, and prosecutors may find some statements unusable which could alter charging or investigative choices; juveniles and their parents gain a clearer, enforceable route to have rights asserted through counsel. Some important details are not in the extracted text: there’s no effective date and the bill refers to other statutes for exact waiver rules and definitions, so how quickly agencies must comply and certain operational limits are unclear.