This bill creates a new civil cause of action in Washington against any state legislator (members of the House and Senate) who voted for a state law that "makes it easier" for a person arrested for a violent offense to obtain pretrial release or evade reasonable criminal prosecution, where an injured person is harmed by that arrested individual after release and the legislator failed to provide "adequate consideration" of the risk of public harm. The new law prohibits raising legislative immunity as a defense to such suits, requires courts to award prevailing plaintiffs actual damages (as determined by the trier of fact) and at least nominal damages, and authorizes awards of costs, reasonable attorneys’ fees, and declaratory or injunctive relief. The bill establishes that "adequate consideration" must include a written and published assessment analyzing specified risk and victim considerations and consideration of all relevant and reasonably available evidence and testimony. It permits state or local entities to provide defense or satisfy judgments except where a trier of fact finds by clear and convincing evidence that the legislator intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly disregarded the risk of public harm; in that case the legislator is personally liable for defense costs and judgment, the state or locality must not pay subsequent costs, and any defense costs previously paid by the state or locality must be repaid by the legislator within one year. The act adds a new chapter to Title 7 RCW, amends RCW 4.92.070, 4.92.075, and 4.96.041 to add related qualifiers, sets a three-year statute of limitations from discovery for bringing the claim, includes a severability clause, and takes effect January 1, 2026. The bill refers to "violent offense" as defined in RCW 9.94A.030 but does not reproduce that definition here. The new chapter number and exact placement in Title 7 RCW are not provided in the extracted text, the full amended texts of the cited RCW sections are not included, and the text does not specify how to determine when a law "makes it easier" for an arrested person to obtain pretrial release or evade prosecution.

If enacted, the bill would create a new risk that Washington state legislators who vote for criminal justice laws that later are linked to violent offenders being released or not prosecuted could be sued and, in some cases, forced to pay judgments and defense costs personally. That will push legislators to require and publish formal written risk assessments and to solicit testimony from law enforcement, experts, and victims before supporting bills, while the Attorney General, state and local governments could face new defense and payment obligations unless a court finds a legislator acted intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly — in which case the legislator would be personally on the hook and must repay any defense money the state already spent within a year. The most affected parties are state legislators (who gain new personal financial and reputational risk), the Attorney General and state/local governments (which could see increased defense costs and potential judgments), and referenced groups such as foster parents and DSHS. The measure is likely to increase legal and administrative costs and change how criminal justice legislation is drafted and reviewed. Key implementation questions remain, notably how a court will decide when a law “makes it easier” to obtain pretrial release or evade prosecution and exactly how the new chapter will interact with existing statutes, so some outcomes are uncertain.