This bill adds new sections to chapter 10.95 RCW and creates a procedural requirement for death penalty cases arising from aggravated first degree murder that allegedly occurred while the defendant was already serving a term of incarceration (citing RCW 10.95.020(2)). It requires the county prosecuting attorney to forward a request for review and all relevant materials to a newly created death penalty review panel. If a majority of that panel recommends pursuing the death penalty, the prosecuting attorney must file and serve written notice of a special sentencing proceeding to decide whether to impose death. That notice generally must be filed and served within 30 days after the defendant’s arraignment on the aggravated first degree murder charge, unless the court, for good cause, extends or reopens the period. The bill establishes the death penalty review panel and names permanent and ad hoc members: the attorney general (or designee) who convenes the panel; the secretary of the Department of Corrections (or designee); four prosecuting attorneys recommended by the Washington Association of Prosecuting Attorneys; and as an ad hoc member, the county prosecuting attorney from the county where the murder occurred. Defense counsel may submit materials to the panel. During the period in which the prosecuting attorney may file the special sentencing notice, the defendant may not tender, and the court may not accept, a guilty plea to aggravated first degree murder or any lesser included offense except with the prosecuting attorney’s consent. If the notice is not filed and served as required, the prosecuting attorney may not request the death penalty. Important details are not included in the extracted text: the bill cites RCW 10.95.020(2) but does not provide that text; it does not define what materials are “relevant,” set timing or format rules for the panel’s review or memorandum, or specify any separate penalty provisions beyond the procedural requirements described.

If enacted, the bill creates a mandatory step before a prosecutor can seek the death penalty in cases where the murder happened while the defendant was already incarcerated: the prosecutor must send a request and all relevant materials to a multi-member death penalty review panel convened by the attorney general (which includes the attorney general’s office, the Department of Corrections, four prosecutors recommended by the Washington Association of Prosecuting Attorneys, and the local county prosecutor as an ad hoc member). If a majority of that panel recommends pursuing the death penalty, the prosecutor then must file a written notice of a special sentencing proceeding within 30 days after arraignment (unless a court extends that time); during that filing window defendants generally may not plead guilty to the murder or a lesser charge without the prosecutor’s consent, and if the notice is not filed as required the prosecutor cannot request the death penalty. The people and offices most affected will be county prosecuting attorneys (new duties to prepare and forward materials and meet tight filing deadlines), the attorney general’s office and Department of Corrections (new panel convening and participation duties), the Washington Association of Prosecuting Attorneys (must recommend panel members), defense counsel (able to submit materials but facing a temporary restriction on plea negotiations), and defendants (limited ability to plead during the review period). This creates a procedural risk for prosecutors that missing the notice deadline or other unspecified submission requirements could foreclose seeking capital punishment. Important details are missing from the extracted text—what counts as “relevant materials,” the meaning of the cited RCW provision, the panel’s timeline or memorandum rules, and whether there are other penalty provisions—so the practical scope and timing of the new duties are partially unclear.