House Bill 1247 amends RCW 72.01.410 and 72.01.412 to change where and how adults convicted of felonies committed when they were under 18 are housed and supervised. Under the bill, such persons are initially placed in Department of Corrections (DOC) custody to determine their earned release date (ERD); if the ERD is before the person’s 21st birthday, DOC must transfer them to the Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) until the ordered term ends or they turn 21. While in DCYF custody they receive the same treatment, placement, and program access as others committed under chapter 13.40 RCW, and DCYF has sole discretion over treatment, placement, and program decisions except where the amended section provides otherwise. DCYF may not transfer a person back to DOC before age 21 without DCYF approval, may transfer to DOC if retaining custody poses a significant safety risk, and must keep custody when DOC’s approval of a community custody release plan is pending. The bill also sets housing and placement rules for persons transferred to DOC while under 18, including generally separate housing from those 18 or older until the person turns 18, limited exceptions for safety or security, and Secretary of Corrections discretion to allow continued placement in under-18 housing if appropriate but not beyond the 21st birthday. It creates a defined community transition services option administered by DCYF with eligibility and limits: eligibility after serving 60 percent of the term and at least 15 weeks total confinement, placement limited to the remaining 18 months of the term, consideration of behavior and disciplinary records, and specified ineligible groups (pending charges or warrants, DOC custody or supervision, first or second degree murder convictions, those meeting the persistent offender definition in RCW 9.94A.030, Level III sex offenders, and those needing out-of-state placement). The bill is a procedural change to custody, housing, and reentry options rather than the creation of a new crime or new penalties, and it references DOC/DCYF authorities and provisions in RCW 9.94A.729(5)(b) and chapter 13.40 RCW. The extracted text shows deletions and renumbering and does not include the prior statutory baseline or broader implementation and fiscal details, so some surrounding statutory context and full original wording are not provided. One provision about separation of persons under 18 from those 18 or older is self-referential in the excerpt and may be unclear without the full statute.

If enacted, young people convicted as adults for crimes they committed under 18 would generally start in DOC custody but be moved to DCYF custody if their earned release date comes before they turn 21. DCYF would run their treatment, placement, housing and program access like other youth committed under juvenile statutes and could keep them until age 21, offer a supervised “community transition” option after they’ve served at least 60% of their term and at least 15 weeks (limited to the last 18 months), and would exclude people with pending charges, murder convictions, certain sex offenders, persistent offenders, those already in DOC custody, or needing out-of-state placement. Practically, this shifts real responsibility and costs toward DCYF for a subset of young adults, including running developmentally targeted treatment, housing, and reentry programs, while DOC must continue to manage housing rules for transferred youths, approve leave and any community custody release plans, and retain custody when release dates are on or after age 21. This will likely create added program and supervision duties for DCYF and additional coordination steps (and potential delays) between DCYF and DOC for community release; specific budget, operational details, and some statutory language about separation of younger and older inmates are not provided in the extracted text.