This bill creates a new section in chapter 38.52 RCW authorizing political subdivisions with more than 200,000 residents to establish civilian‑staffed crisis response teams that operate outside a general authority Washington law enforcement agency. The teams may be designated as a "third 911 first responder" and can serve as a primary 911 response for calls with no report of active or imminent violence or weapons, such as a person in crisis who does not request law enforcement, safety and welfare checks, or public requests for resources. For calls that do not meet the primary‑response criteria, the teams may serve as a secondary, supportive response to law enforcement as determined by the executive head of the political subdivision, and they are authorized to initiate a field response when they observe qualifying events. The executive head must consult specified entities (including the Washington Health Care Authority, the local behavioral health administrative services organization and its mobile crisis operators, and the regional 988 call center hub) to set minimum qualifications and solicit input on services, training, dispatching, deployable areas, and hours of operation; minimum qualifications must include training in scene safety, de‑escalation, and interacting with individuals in crisis. The executive head may determine department placement, number of staff, and other team characteristics, and the wages, hours, and working conditions of these first responder personnel are subject to collective bargaining under chapter 41.56 RCW. The statute requires the teams’ responsibilities to fall outside a general authority law enforcement agency and outside a general authority fire response. The bill also reenacts and amends RCW 42.56.230 to restate and expand public records exemptions for a range of personal information categories (for example, student and patient records, certain welfare and public safety service records, taxpayer and financial account information, driver and vessel records, 911 databases and emergency notification systems, and others) and references multiple existing RCW sections. This is therefore both a new‑law authorization creating a new type of public safety response and an amendment/reenactment of public records law. The provided text does not define key terms used in the new section (for example, "political subdivision," "executive head," or "general authority Washington law enforcement agency") and does not include operational details such as funding, liability, accreditation, oversight, dispatch protocols, data reporting, enforcement mechanisms, or any penalties.

Large cities and counties (those serving more than 200,000 residents) would be able to set up civilian crisis response teams outside police or fire departments to handle many nonviolent 911 calls like mental health crises, welfare checks, and requests for shelter or transport. That is likely to shift many low-risk calls away from police, changing who responds day-to-day and requiring jurisdictions to budget for new staff, training in scene safety and de-escalation, and collective bargaining obligations for wages and work conditions, while also deciding where the teams sit administratively and when they back up law enforcement. The bill also tightens privacy protections for people served and for certain 911 and emergency system records, which could reduce public access to some reports and data. Important details that would affect costs and risk—such as funding sources, liability rules, dispatch protocols, required staffing levels, and exact definitions of eligible local governments and executive authority—are not specified in the extracted text.