The bill creates a new statutory program by adding a section to chapter 72.09 RCW to establish comprehensive body scanner screening at the Washington Corrections Center for Women and at an unspecified state correctional facility housing male incarcerated persons. It requires scanners that detect contraband under clothing and within body cavities and that meet applicable federal and state radiation and safety standards, and it requires the Department of Corrections to develop gender‑responsive, trauma‑informed screening policies for employees, contractors, visitors, volunteers, incarcerated people, and others entering the secure perimeter. The bill imposes operational and procedural requirements: alternatives to scanner use for minors, people who are health compromised, people with disabilities, people who may be pregnant, and people close to department of health radiation dosage limits; staffing and nurse custody levels sufficient for follow-up searches and dry cell watches; radiation safety and operator training with only trained staff allowed to operate and review scans; tracking of scan frequency to comply with department of health dosage limits; and a requirement that the secretary adopt rules and policies needed to implement the program. It also directs assessment for substance use disorder and provision of treatment services, including medication‑assisted treatment when appropriate, prioritizes treatment for individuals showing symptoms of a substance use disorder (and distinguishes them from people who transport substances without such symptoms), and states that employees, contractors, visitors, or volunteers with positive scans will be disciplined under department policies. The department must leverage existing funding and equipment where possible and deliver an annual report by December 1 to the governor and the legislature with specified data on positive scans, types of contraband, confiscated substances (reporting the prior five years for confiscated substances), substance use disorder assessments and treatments, and dry cell watch use. Affected entities named include the Department of Corrections, the Washington Corrections Center for Women, an unnamed male facility, the Department of Health, the secretary, and the governor and legislature. The extracted text does not identify the specific male facility, does not reproduce the definition of “contraband” beyond referencing RCW 9A.76.010, does not set out the department of health rules or numeric radiation dosage limits, does not give the exact subsection placement within chapter 72.09 RCW, and does not indicate any changes to criminal penalties beyond internal disciplinary measures. The bill was read first time in the Senate on 01/27/25.

If enacted, the Department of Corrections would have to operate full-body scanners at the Washington corrections center for women and at one state men’s facility, which will change daily operations: DOC must buy or reallocate equipment, train and certify staff in radiation safety, adjust custody and nursing staffing to handle follow-up searches and dry cell watches, and start tracking individual scan counts to meet health dosage limits. Incarcerated people, employees, contractors, visitors, and volunteers will face routine scans that can trigger searches, discipline, or placement under observation; people who show signs of substance use on scans are likely to be assessed and more often offered treatment, including medication-assisted treatment, while those identified as merely transporting contraband may be treated differently. The agency will need to develop gender-responsive, trauma-informed policies and alternatives for minors, people who are pregnant, disabled, or health compromised, and to file an annual report to the governor and legislature with data on scans, contraband, and treatment; the law says existing funding and equipment should be leveraged, so new budget needs are uncertain. Important details left unclear here include which men’s facility is covered, the exact radiation dosage limits and Department of Health rules that will apply, and the full legal definition of contraband, so some implementation costs, operational limits, and legal effects cannot be precisely predicted.