The bill titled Engrossed Second Substitute Senate Bill 6070 (69th Legislature, 2026) makes multiple changes to support recovery of missing persons by amending and adding criminal procedure, records, and alert provisions. It amends RCW 9.73.260 to generally prohibit installation or use of pen registers, trap and trace devices, and cell site simulator devices without a prior court order, while allowing law enforcement to apply ex parte to a superior court. A court may authorize installation and use if it finds the information sought is relevant to an ongoing criminal investigation or necessary for community caretaking functions and there is probable cause that the device will likely lead to specified outcomes (evidence of a crime, locating unlawfully restrained persons, locating a person for arrest, or aiding in locating a missing endangered person). Orders are limited in duration (generally 60 days), may be extended only under strict standards, are to be sealed, may require assistance from providers/landlords/custodians (with reasonable compensation), and provide those persons immunity from civil or criminal liability for compliance. The bill creates a structured emergency use exception and associated penalties and safeguards. In an emergency involving imminent danger of death or serious bodily injury, or in a missing endangered person case, law enforcement (and a prosecutor in non‑missing‑person cases) may install and use such devices before obtaining a court order, but must seek court authorization within 48 hours; if no order is obtained within 48 hours the use must stop and any information obtained is inadmissible, and knowing failure to apply within 48 hours is a gross misdemeanor. Cell site simulator use is subject to device‑specific controls: collection must be limited to the court‑specified target, non‑target data must be deleted immediately, target data must be deleted within 30 days if probable cause no longer exists, and data must be purged if no court order is obtained within 48 hours or the application is denied. Applications that seek installation to investigate alleged criminal liability related to protected health care services lawful in Washington must include an attestation, and the court may not issue orders to investigate such lawful health care services. Other statutory changes in the extracted text include an amendment to RCW 10.79.035 to permit magistrates to issue warrants (including remotely by telephone or electronic transmission) for evidence, contraband, persons for arrest, or evidence that may aid in locating a missing endangered person, and the addition of a new, nonexclusive list of factors a court may consider when finding probable cause for community caretaking functions to locate missing endangered persons. The Washington State Patrol must establish a missing children and endangered person clearinghouse and implement an alert plan with designated advisory titles (Ebony alert, Missing indigenous person alert, Silver alert, Purple alert). The bill reenacts and amends RCW 42.56.240 to clarify exemptions for investigative and law enforcement records and sets rules for body worn camera recordings, including who may obtain them and when agencies may charge or must waive redaction costs. The provided extracts are incomplete in places (for example, subsection (6) referenced as an exception is not included, several sections begin or end mid‑sentence, and several listed amendments in the bill header are not contained in the extracts), so some details and the full statutory text of other amendments are not available from these facts.

If enacted, the bill gives law enforcement faster, court-authorized tools to find missing people by allowing pen registers, trap-and-trace devices, and cell-site simulators to be used or installed with a superior court order (orders limited to 60 days with narrow rules for extensions) and, in emergencies or missing endangered person cases, allows immediate use followed by a required court application within 48 hours. Practically, police agencies will have a clear quick-response pathway but must file timely court paperwork, submit monthly reports to the courts, compensate providers, and follow strict rules to delete non-target data immediately and target data within 30 days if probable cause lapses; failure to seek a court order within 48 hours can make the data inadmissible and expose officers to a gross misdemeanor. Providers, landlords, and custodians will be required to assist with installation but are to be reasonably paid and are shielded from civil liability for complying in good faith. The bill also requires the Washington State Patrol to run a missing children and endangered person clearinghouse with a hotline and to develop alert plans (including “ebony,” “missing indigenous person,” “silver,” and “purple” alerts) within existing resources, and it tightens who can access body-worn camera recordings and how redaction costs are handled. Agencies that handle records will face new operational duties around sealed orders, reporting, and evidence handling, while members of the public, certain commissions, and victims have clarified but limited access to recordings. Some implementation details and referenced exceptions (for example subsection (6) and other amended sections) are not included in the provided text, leaving uncertainty about a few specific procedures and limits.