This bill amends RCW 9.94A.730 to create a new early-release petition pathway for people who committed one or more crimes before age 18, allowing them to ask the Indeterminate Sentence Review Board (ISRB) for early release if they meet specified conditions. Eligible petitioners generally must be at least 24 years old (with an alternative rule for people convicted of three or more murder offenses who may petition after serving at least 20 years), have no convictions or disqualifying serious infractions in the 12 months before filing, and not be serving sentences imposed under specified statutes. The bill imposes procedural requirements: the responsible department must assess offenders and identify programming no later than five years before eligibility and provide programming where possible; petitioners must undergo a department examination within 180 days that includes recognized methodologies to predict dangerousness and probability of future criminal behavior; the ISRB must order release unless it finds by a preponderance of the evidence that the person is more likely than not to commit new criminal violations if released; victims may provide input and prosecutors must forward victim statements; and the department may provide rental vouchers and supervise released persons for a period set by the ISRB, with monitoring and specified consequences for violations. The bill changes eligibility, procedures, and administrative practices rather than creating a new crime or altering statutory maximum penalties. It sets timelines for refiling after denial or return (generally five years), limits the number of newly eligible petitions the department or board will act on to 35 per year with a stated prioritization, and names the act the "youth hope act." The text refers to several other RCWs and agencies and leaves some context unclear: the specific department referenced in multiple provisions is not always identified in the extracted text, the definition of "disqualifying serious infraction" is not provided here, and the interaction with prior statute language cited (2024 c 118 s 4) and the full scope of who "otherwise would not be eligible" are not shown in these extracts.

If enacted, more people who committed crimes before age 18 could ask the review board for early release once they reach age 24 (with a 20-year minimum for those convicted of three or more murders), provided they’ve had no new convictions or serious infractions in the prior 12 months and meet other exclusions. The law would require prison authorities to assess eligible people and identify needed programming at least five years before they can petition, to examine petitioners within 180 days, and for the board to order release unless it finds the person is more likely than not to reoffend; housing vouchers and postrelease supervision up to the original sentence length are options the state can use to support safe release. Key limits that reduce how many new petitions are acted on include a cap of 35 newly eligible petitions per year (prioritizing young people in child-welfare custody and recent transfers), and that cap expires July 1, 2035. The departments that run prisons and supervise reentry (and likely DCYF and county prosecutors) will face clearer new duties and probable added costs: earlier and ongoing assessments, more programming delivery, conducting risk exams, collecting data on voucher effectiveness, administering limited rental assistance, supervising released people, and handling compliance and possible returns. Victims and prosecutors will have to provide impact statements and contact information for hearings. The text leaves unclear which specific agency is meant by some references to “the department” and does not define “disqualifying serious infraction” in this extract, so a few operational details and the full scope of who becomes newly eligible are not fully specified here.