This bill amends existing law (RCW 9.94A.701) to require specific mandatory terms of community custody to be added to a sentence when an offender is sentenced to the custody of the department. It sets community custody lengths of three years for a sex offense not sentenced under RCW 9.94A.507 or for a serious violent offense; eighteen months for a violent offense that is not a serious violent offense; and one year for specified offenses including crimes against persons under RCW 9.94A.411(2), unlawful possession of a firearm under RCW 9.41.040 (including a specified gang-related firearm possession), felony offenses under chapters 69.50 or 69.52 RCW committed on or after July 1, 2000, and a first felony failure to register under RCW 9A.44.132(1). The bill also specifies how community custody terms apply when a defendant is sentenced under various sentencing alternatives (for example, the drug offender sentencing alternative, special sex offender sentencing alternative, work ethic camp, parenting sentencing alternative, and mental health sentencing alternative) by citing the applicable RCWs (including RCW 9.94A.660, .661, .662, .664, .670, .690, .655, and .695). Courts are required to reduce the term of community custody when the offender's standard range confinement term plus the community custody term would exceed the statutory maximum for the crime under RCW 9A.20.021. This is a procedural sentencing change, not the creation of a new crime. Section 1 of the act expires January 1, 2027, and Section 2 takes effect January 1, 2027. The text supplied does not define key statutory terms (for example, “community custody,” “serious violent offense,” or which department is meant), and the bill appears to amend RCW 9.94A.701 in two parts whose full interaction depends on the remainder of the statute or bill text not provided here.

If enacted, people sent to prison for the listed sex, violent, firearm, drug, and registration offenses will routinely leave custody with set periods of community supervision attached (three years for the most serious categories, about 18 months for other violent offenses, and one year for several felony categories). That will likely increase the amount of time many people spend under post-release supervision, raising workload and likely operating costs for the agency that supervises community custody and requiring courts to adjust terms when the combined jail/prison and supervision would exceed a crime’s statutory maximum. The groups most affected are the supervising department (more supervision responsibilities and likely higher costs), courts (new mandatory terms to apply and occasional reductions to avoid statutory maximums), and offenders (longer, more predictable supervision after release). The bill sets a transition with one provision expiring January 1, 2027 and another taking effect that same day. Important details are missing here—such as which specific department is meant, statutory definitions of offense categories, and any funding to cover added supervision—so the precise budget and operational impact is unclear.