This bill adds a new section to chapter 70.395 RCW creating a new civil enforcement authority that allows the Washington State Department of Health to assess escalating civil fines when a private detention facility prevents department entry for an inspection. The fine schedule is up to $1,000 per day for days 1–30 after the department's initial attempt to inspect, up to $10,000 per day for days 31–60, and up to $15,000 per day from day 61 onward until access is granted. This is a new penalty scheme and a procedural change authorizing civil fines tied to denial of inspection access. Collected fines must be deposited into a newly created “enforcement accountability and community repair account” in the state treasury. Funds in that account may be spent only after appropriation and only for specified assistance to individuals or families who were wrongfully detained, assaulted, or killed at a private detention facility or during transport to such a facility; authorized uses include housing, food, legal services, wage replacement, child care, transportation, grants to nonprofits serving immigrant communities, and financial compensation. The provision states that services provided from the account are not an admission of state fault and do not create an entitlement to compensation or assistance. The new section defines “department” as the Washington State Department of Health. The text does not define “private detention facility,” what constitutes the department’s “initial attempt to inspect,” procedures for declaring a violation, the effective date, or account administration and oversight details. The bill cites RCW 43.70.095 as the basis for assessing civil fines but does not include that statute’s text in the extracted facts.

If enacted, the Department of Health could levy escalating daily fines on private detention facilities that block announced or unannounced inspections, starting at up to $1,000 a day for the first 30 days, rising to $10,000 a day for days 31–60, and up to $15,000 a day after 60 days until access is granted. That creates a strong financial incentive for facilities to allow inspections and gives the department a practical enforcement tool, while facilities face substantially higher costs and financial risk if they continue to deny entry. Fines would be placed in a new state account meant to fund housing, food, legal help, wage replacement, child care, transportation, grants to nonprofits serving immigrant communities, and other aid for people wrongfully detained, assaulted, or killed in or en route to private detention facilities, but money can only be spent after the legislature appropriates it and recipients would not have an automatic entitlement or be able to treat payments as a state admission of fault. Key implementation details are missing from the text provided—such as what counts as a "private detention facility," how the department’s "initial attempt to inspect" is defined, effective dates, and account oversight—so the timing and consistency of enforcement and payments could be uncertain.