The bill amends RCW 9A.52.105 to give a peace officer authority, upon receiving a written declaration signed under penalty of perjury in the form prescribed by RCW 9A.52.115 and containing specified elements, to remove persons from residential real property and order them to remain off the premises or face arrest for criminal trespass if the officer has probable cause to believe the person knowingly entered or remained unlawfully in a building that meets the statutory definition of residential real property. The change is a procedural authority for officers tied to existing criminal trespass law (RCW 9A.52.070) and requires officers to provide occupants a reasonable opportunity to present credible evidence that they are tenants, legal occupants, or guests, and to consider that evidence; it also states the section does not permit removing occupants entitled to occupy under a rental agreement and does not limit rights under RCW 61.24.060. The declaration must be signed by the owner or an authorized agent, must show a demand to vacate and that the person(s) were not tenants or homeowners on title within the last 12 months, and includes an indemnity holding law enforcement harmless for good faith actions or omissions. The bill notes that presenting falsified or invalid documents to a peace officer may violate RCW 9A.76.175 and may give rise to a civil cause of action under RCW 4.24.355. The bill also amends RCW 4.24.355 to create civil remedies: persons removed because of false statements in a declarant’s declaration may sue the declarant for actual damages, costs, and reasonable attorneys’ fees, and a declarant may sue persons who present falsified or invalid documents to a peace officer during the described process for the same relief. The extracted text does not include the prescribed form of the declaration, the full definition of “residential real property,” a detailed definition of what constitutes a “reasonable opportunity,” or any effective date or other sections of the larger bill.

If enacted, the law would let a property owner or an authorized agent sign a sworn declaration that gives a police officer the authority, when the officer has probable cause for criminal trespass at a residential property, to remove people from the premises and order them to stay away without first getting a court eviction. Officers must give occupants a fair chance to show they are lawful tenants, occupants, or guests, and people who present fake documents to an officer can face criminal exposure and civil liability. Law enforcement agencies and officers acting in good faith would be protected from liability for those actions, while people who are wrongly removed because the declarant lied would be able to sue that declarant for damages, costs, and attorneys’ fees; declarants can also sue people who give them forged or invalid documents during the process. Those most affected are property owners/agents (who gain a faster, non-judicial way to remove alleged trespassers but face risk of civil liability if their declaration is false), peace officers and their agencies (who get expanded removal authority but must assess probable cause and consider occupants’ evidence and are shielded from good-faith liability), and occupants or visitors at questioned residences (who risk being removed but retain the chance to prove their right to be there and could sue if wrongly removed). Key details needed to understand daily operations are missing: the exact required form, the statutory definition of “residential real property,” what counts as a “reasonable opportunity” to present evidence, and whether or when the change would take effect.