This bill amends several existing statutes and adds a new funding provision. It expands the statutory definition of "physical damage" in the malicious mischief provisions (RCW 9A.48.100, applying to RCW 9A.48.070–.090) to expressly include alteration, damage, obliteration, erasure, impairment, interruption, or interference with computer-recorded records, information, data, programs, computer representations, computers, or computer services, and to include diminution in property value and repair costs. It allows damages from a common scheme or plan to be aggregated for purposes of malicious mischief charging such that if aggregated physical damage exceeds $750 the defendant may be charged with malicious mischief in the second degree. The bill also amends RCW 7.80.050, 7.80.070, and 7.80.120 to change how civil infraction proceedings are started and handled, to require specified content on the notice of civil infraction form (to be set by Supreme Court rule), to change service and response deadlines (30 days if personally served, 33 days if served by mail), to require filing of notices of infraction with a court within five days of issuance (excluding weekends/holidays) and dismissal without prejudice if not filed in time absent good cause, and to set maximum/default monetary penalties for four classes of civil infractions (class 1 standard $250 with specified exceptions up to $1,000; class 2 $125; class 3 $50; class 4 $25). The bill requires penalties to be immediately payable unless the court grants an extension and requires courts to enter a payment plan in specified circumstances. The bill makes procedural and fiscal changes: it repeals RCW 2.56.190 (legal financial obligations—collection—distribution of funds) and adds a new section to chapter 43.08 RCW requiring the state treasurer, by October 1 each year, to distribute legislatively appropriated funds to counties for county clerk collection budgets using the funding formula recommended by the Washington Association of County Officials. Affected entities named include the Washington State Supreme Court (rulemaking for the notice form), the state treasurer, counties and county clerks, the Washington Association of County Officials, the Administrative Office of the Courts, enforcement officers, local courts and collections agencies, prosecuting authorities, and persons receiving notices of civil infraction. This bill modifies existing law (definitions, charging thresholds, civil infraction procedures, penalty schedules, collection practices, and funding distribution) rather than creating a wholly new criminal offense. It includes both substantive changes (expanded definition of physical damage that can affect criminal charging and aggregation rules) and procedural changes (notice contents, service and filing deadlines, dismissal procedures, penalty payment and payment-plan rules, and annual fund distribution). Important details are not provided in the extracted text: the exact content of the Supreme Court rule to prescribe the notice form, the specific funding formula recommended by the Washington Association of County Officials, the text or consequences of the repealed RCW 2.56.190, the statutory definitions or criteria for civil infraction classes 1–4, and any specific implementation dates or the referenced IRLJ and future court rule texts.

If enacted, the bill broadens criminal liability for property tampering to explicitly cover alteration, erasure, interference with, or impairment of computer-recorded data, programs, and services and lets damages from a common scheme be added together so defendants whose actions cause over $750 in aggregate harm can be charged with second-degree malicious mischief; that change makes it more likely that people who damage computer systems or data will face more serious charges and potential repair-value-based losses. It also tightens and standardizes how civil infractions work: notice forms will have required content, people must respond within 30 days (33 by mail), issuing agencies must file notices with the court within five business days or risk dismissal, courts get clearer penalty maximums and must offer payment plans for people who can’t pay under certain conditions, and enforcement officers and local courts will have new procedural duties. Counties and county clerks will see a direct funding change: the state treasurer must distribute any legislatively appropriated funds annually by October 1 to counties for county clerk collection budgets using a formula from the Washington Association of County Officials, which likely provides more predictable dedicated support but whose exact formula isn’t included here. Local courts, enforcement officers, prosecuting authorities, collections agencies, and people who receive infractions will face changed timelines, notice content, and collection rules; the repeal of the prior distribution statute and details like the funding formula, class definitions for infractions, and exact implementation steps are not provided, so some operational and budgetary effects remain uncertain.