Senate Bill 6022 (prefiled 01/07/26) makes multiple changes to Washington juvenile justice law. It repeals policies collectively referred to as "JR-25" and repeals specified community transition service statutes and certain uncodified provisions. The bill reenacts and amends RCW 13.04.030 (juvenile court jurisdiction and related transfer provisions), amends RCW 13.40.0357 (juvenile disposition offense category table) and several other sections (including 13.40.110, 13.40.193, 13.40.300, 72.01.410, 13.40.020, 13.40.205, 13.40.215, and 13.22.010), creates at least one new section, and repeals RCW 13.40.301, 13.04.800, 72.01.412, 43.216.180 and certain uncodified session law sections. The bill changes penalties, aggravating factors, and procedures. It sets Escape 1 and 2 as class C offenses for juvenile sentencing with specified short confinement ranges measured within a 12‑month period, prescribes a sentencing grid with multiple disposition options (Option A standard ranges, Option B suspended disposition with evidence‑ or research‑based treatment conditions and ineligibility criteria, Option C chemical dependency/mental health alternative, and Option D for manifest injustice), and revises decline/hearing procedures for transferring juveniles to adult court with required written findings. Firearm-related changes include a mandatory minimum of ten days confinement for certain firearm possession violations, a required qualifying program for juveniles found in possession of a firearm (unless excluded by a written risk-assessment finding), and an added felony-class-based confinement enhancement when an offender or accomplice was armed with a firearm. The bill also requires commitment to the department when a juvenile’s standard range exceeds 30 days and contains other disposition sequencing rules. The bill alters jurisdiction, custody, placement, facility, and notification rules. It limits juvenile court jurisdiction and any extensions so they do not extend past the offender’s 21st birthday (except for enforcing restitution or penalty assessments), specifies transfer and custodial arrangements between the Department of Corrections and the Department of Children, Youth, and Families when adults are serving sentences for offenses committed under age 18 (including transfer procedures tied to earned release dates and custody/placement authority while in DCYF custody), requires transfer back to DOC when a person in a facility turns 21, and clarifies housing separation and limited exceptions for under‑18s in DOC facilities. The bill defines solitary confinement for juveniles as punitive placement in a room other than the assigned sleeping room or cell for longer than 15 minutes, sets eligibility and program content requirements for community transition services (including a 60 percent minimum-term and 15-week confinement threshold), requires a bias‑limiting and periodically certified risk assessment tool, and mandates 30‑day notice to law enforcement and certain school officials before discharge/parole/authorized leave/transfer for juveniles found to have committed violent, sex, or stalking offenses, with additional notice rules for escapes. Important portions of the offense category table, several amended sentences, and the full text of some new or reenacted subsections are incomplete in the provided extracts, so some specific mappings, truncated sentences, and the exact content of the new section(s) could not be determined from the available material.

If enacted, this bill would change how serious juvenile cases are handled and shift practical custody and programming responsibilities between the Department of Corrections and the Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF). Juvenile sentencing ranges are clarified and new minimums and enhancements apply when a youth possesses or is armed with a firearm (including a mandatory minimum of ten days and additional months added to confinement), escape offenses get set short confinement ranges, and courts get clearer options for suspending or imposing local treatment-based alternatives. Youth who are committed to confinement but have earned release dates before they turn 21 would be transferred from DOC to DCYF custody until age 21, with DCYF responsible for housing, treatment and release decisions and DOC responsible for initial placement and final custody once the youth turns 21; juvenile courts retain limits on extending jurisdiction beyond age 21. The bill also requires DCYF to offer or require specified evidenceor research‑based programs for firearm possession cases when available, to use a bias-limiting risk assessment tool certified at least every three years, to provide notice to local police and schools 30 days before discharge or transfer for certain violent/sex/stalking cases, and to treat placements of youths in nonassigned rooms for punitive purposes over 15 minutes as solitary confinement—each change likely increases DCYF’s operational, programmatic and notification duties and associated administrative costs and staffing needs. The measure also purports to repeal statutes tied to community transition services and other prior juvenile rehabilitation policies while simultaneously describing eligibility criteria and rules for community transition services, which creates uncertainty about whether and how that program would continue; the excerpts do not resolve that conflict or show full implementation details. Because key cross-referenced sections, portions of the sentencing grid, and the final language of some transfer and release rules are missing from the provided text, it is unclear how some eligibility, funding, and custody transitions will work in practice, so agencies and local jurisdictions would face planning and budget uncertainties until the complete bill text and implementing guidance are available.