The bill creates a new law by adding a pilot gambling treatment diversion court program as a new section in chapter 2.30 RCW. The Administrative Office of the Courts (AOOC) must select a superior court to run the pilot and begin accepting participants by July 1, 2027. The pilot permits courts, on finding reason to believe a defendant committed a crime because of problem or disordered gambling, to hold a pre‑sentencing hearing, order a qualified mental health or substance use disorder professional to evaluate causation and treatability, and defer sentencing for defendants who enter and are accepted into the treatment program. The change is primarily procedural: it establishes eligibility rules, required treatment and supervision terms, and reporting and financial responsibilities. Eligible defendants must agree to a court‑determined restitution plan; treatment must be administered by licensed mental health or substance use disorder professionals; participants may be placed under supervision for at least one year and not more than three years (with limited extensions at a professional’s request); providers must file progress reports and report significant noncompliance to the Department of Corrections or other agency; and unpaid program or supervision costs are treated as a lien like a civil money judgment, with the court directed to seek programs with federal/state funding or order supervised community service when practicable. If a professional certifies satisfactory completion and the court approves, sentencing may be deferred and the conviction may be set aside or discharged under RCW 9.94A.637, and the person may apply for record vacation under RCW 9.94A.640. If certification is not provided before the treatment period expires or a professional finds the person inappropriate for treatment, the court must proceed to sentencing or transfer/terminate supervision and hold a sentencing hearing. The bill affects the AOOC, the selected superior court, prosecutors, qualified mental health and substance use disorder professionals, probation or supervising agencies, the Department of Corrections, and community service and treatment providers. Definitions reference RCW 70.02.010 and RCW 70.97.010. The text does not specify how AOOC will choose the superior court, how long the pilot will run or whether it must be evaluated or reported on, funding or appropriations for the pilot, participant capacity or geographic scope, or the specific section number assigned within chapter 2.30 RCW.

If enacted, the state will create a single pilot gambling treatment diversion court run by the Administrative Office of the Courts that must start taking participants by July 1, 2027. Defendants who committed crimes linked to problem gambling and who agree to restitution could have sentencing delayed while they enter court-supervised treatment administered by licensed mental health or substance use professionals, be placed under probation-like supervision for one to three years, and avoid a conviction if they satisfactorily complete the program. That will give eligible defendants a concrete path away from immediate sentencing and toward treatment, but also requires them to pay treatment and supervision costs to the extent they can; courts must try to place people in federally or state funded programs or order community service when people cannot pay. The pilot shifts new duties and workload onto the AOOC (to create and run the pilot), the selected superior court (to hold pre-sentencing hearings and supervise participants), prosecutors (to present evidence about gambling causation), probation and corrections agencies (to supervise and receive reports), and licensed treatment providers (to assess, treat, report progress, and report major compliance failures). The bill does not say which superior court will be chosen, how long the pilot will run, how it will be funded, how many participants it will serve, or whether there will be an evaluation, so budget and capacity impacts on courts and treatment providers remain unclear.