The bill amends RCW 72.09.015 and adds new sections to chapter 72.09 RCW to create uniform procedures governing disciplinary hearings and the use of administrative segregation in Department of Corrections (DOC) facilities. It is a procedural change to correctional operations rather than a criminal penalty change. The bill revises and adds many statutory definitions (including administrative segregation and an indigency threshold of less than $25 in an inmate account) and establishes that an incarcerated person is presumed innocent of an infraction or alleged rule violation and that the facility has the burden of proof by a preponderance of the evidence. It also begins to require that hearing officers state what evidence supports disciplinary findings (the text on that requirement is incomplete in the provided excerpt). The bill specifies limited circumstances that may justify administrative segregation (such as escape or attempts, arson or attempts, serious assaults or attempts, participation in major disturbances with assaults, or reliable specific intelligence of an imminent such event) and clarifies that medical necessity may justify temporary close observation or infirmary placement but does not by itself justify administrative segregation status. It directs DOC to evaluate practices with a goal of reducing administrative segregation placements to 15 days or less, requires the department to update an individual if placement is extended past 30 calendar days, requires secretary or designee authorization and a written explanation for extensions beyond 45 calendar days, and requires written notice to the corrections ombuds whenever a person has remained on administrative segregation for more than 45 consecutive days. The bill prohibits removing a person from housing, education, work, or other programming solely because of administrative segregation unless there is a documented institutional or programmatic need. It also adds a new requirement that DOC post an annual report on administrative segregation use by January 31, 2026 and annually thereafter, specifying the data and measures the report must contain. The excerpt defines “preponderance of the evidence” as the greater weight of credible evidence based on indicia of reliability and convincing force. The provided text is incomplete in places. Section 3 is truncated so the full hearing officer articulation requirement and related provisions are not shown. The new reporting section begins mid-sentence in the excerpt and does not explicitly name the department in that fragment, though other parts identify the Department as DOC. It is unclear from the provided facts whether the defined standard of “preponderance of the evidence” applies only to the new reporting section or more broadly to all disciplinary provisions, and any additional sections, implementation details, or enforcement mechanisms appearing elsewhere in the bill are not included in these excerpts.

If enacted, the bill will require the Department of Corrections to limit and document use of administrative segregation, set a goal of reducing stays to 15 days or less, notify and update people after 30 days, require secretary authorization and a written explanation for extensions past 45 days, and notify the corrections ombuds when someone has been in segregation more than 45 consecutive days. The department must also make disciplinary hearings record the facts and evidence supporting findings, apply a presumption of innocence with the facility bearing the burden of proof by a preponderance of the evidence, and post a detailed annual report on segregation use (first due January 31, 2026) including counts, reasons, mean and median lengths of stay, steps taken if median stay exceeds 15 days, and other specified breakdowns. The people most affected are incarcerated individuals (who may see shorter or more strictly limited segregation), DOC staff and hearing officers (who will have added duties documenting hearings, updating people, obtaining authorizations, and compiling the annual report), superintendents and the secretary (who must authorize long extensions), and the corrections ombuds (who will receive notices). Practically, DOC will need to dedicate staff time and administrative resources to tracking placements, producing required notices and reports, and possibly obtain additional resources if median segregation exceeds 15 days; the bill increases transparency and administrative oversight but the excerpt leaves some procedural details unclear, including the truncated language about how hearing officers must articulate supporting evidence and the full scope of how the defined standard of "preponderance of the evidence" applies.