This bill creates new law by adding sections to chapter 72.09 RCW and chapter 13.40 RCW that impose immediate personnel and contractor controls when the secretary has reasonable cause to believe an employee or contractor employee possessed contraband on correctional premises. For department employees the secretary must immediately suspend the employee (notwithstanding chapter 41.06 RCW) and must immediately institute termination proceedings if the department finds, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the person possessed contraband on the premises or if the person enters a guilty plea or is convicted under RCW 9.94.043 or 9.94.045. For contractor employees the secretary must require immediate removal from any position permitting access to the premises and must disqualify from contractor employment anyone found by the department, by a preponderance of the evidence, to have possessed contraband or who pleads guilty or is convicted under those same RCWs. The sections define “contractor” to include subcontractors and define “contraband” for the new 72.09 section to include the definition in RCW 72.09.015 plus objects that threaten institution security, unlawfully possessed weapons, or illegal drugs; the 13.40 section requires contraband to include at minimum those categories. The bill makes a person terminated under these sections be treated as discharged for misconduct for purposes of RCW 50.20.060, authorizes the department to release information about terminated persons or contracts, and provides civil immunity for appointed or elected public officials, employees, and public agencies who discretionaryy release relevant information unless gross negligence or bad faith is shown (per RCW 4.24.470). The department must adopt rules to implement the sections and reflect the legislative intent that department and contractor employees are prohibited from possessing contraband on state correctional institution premises. The text available does not name which department or which “secretary” is meant, does not specify the precise scope or definitions of “state correctional facility/institution,” does not include the full definition of contraband from RCW 72.09.015, and provides no detailed procedures, appeal process, or effective date.

If enacted, people who work in or have contractor roles that give them access to state correctional institutions would face immediate suspension or removal and fast-tracked termination proceedings if the agency head reasonably suspects they possessed contraband; a finding by the agency on a preponderance of the evidence or a guilty plea/conviction for certain offenses would trigger required termination or disqualification from future contractor roles. Contractors would need to show meaningful changes in hiring, training, and monitoring before contracts are renewed, and workers terminated under these rules would be treated as discharged for misconduct for unemployment law purposes, which likely reduces their eligibility for benefits. The department (and its unnamed secretary) would take on responsibility for investigations, rulemaking, and deciding contract renewals, and could publicly release information about terminated employees or contracts with civil immunity except for gross negligence or bad faith, reducing some legal risk for disclosures. Important details are missing about which specific department and institutions are covered, the exact procedures for suspension, investigation, appeal, and any implementation timeline, so how quickly and uniformly these changes would be applied is unclear.