This bill amends an existing statute, RCW 9A.36.031 (third-degree assault), by listing specific circumstances that constitute third-degree assault under subsection (1)(a)–(m) and by adding a new subsection (1)(m) that makes assaulting a person employed as an outreach worker while performing official duties third-degree assault. The amendment specifies that third-degree assault is a class C felony. The text includes definitions for several covered persons and terms, including nurse, physician, health care provider, outreach worker, gamete, reproductive material, and court-related employee. It identifies a range of affected workers and employers, such as transit operators and supervisors, school bus drivers and related staff, firefighters and fire department employees, law enforcement officers and agency employees, nurses, physicians, health care providers and hospitals, judicial officers and court staff, and outreach workers and the vulnerable populations they typically serve. The bill limits courtroom, jury room, and judge's chamber protections to times those spaces are being used for judicial purposes and only if signage required by RCW 2.28.200 was posted at the time of the assault. The amendment cites RCW 9A.36.031 and several other chapters (including RCW 2.28.200, chapters 18.57, 18.71, 18.73, 18.79, Title 18, and chapter 70.41) and was read for the first time on 02/03/25 and referred to the Committee on Law & Justice. This extract appears to contain only Section 1 of the bill; it is unclear whether additional sections or related changes exist. The text does not show the prior version of RCW 9A.36.031 for direct comparison, it does not provide an effective date, and it does not give any penalty detail beyond stating that third-degree assault is a class C felony.

If enacted, the law would add attacks on outreach workers doing official duties to the list of conduct that counts as third-degree assault, making such attacks a class C felony alongside assaults on various other public-facing workers (transit and school drivers and staff, firefighters, law enforcement, nurses, physicians, health care providers, court employees, etc.). It also defines who counts as an outreach worker and clarifies that courtroom protections apply only when the space is being used for court purposes and proper signage is posted. The most affected people are outreach workers and the agencies that employ or contract with them, who would gain stronger criminal protection and a clearer basis for felony charges when assaulted; prosecutors and law enforcement would have increased ability to pursue felony cases in these situations, which could raise caseloads and related costs. The text does not provide any funding, implementation details, or an effective date, so how courts, agencies, or employers will change policies, training, or resources in response is unclear.