Committee hears supporters and critics of bill aligning jail search rules with federal PREA standards

Substitute Senate Bill 54‑90 would require local jail administrators to adopt policies for conducting searches of transgender and intersex people in custody that align with the federal Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) and Washington law, the House Community Safety Committee heard March 26.

The bill’s staff summary said applicable law already sets standards for strip and body‑cavity searches, including that cavity searches be performed under sanitary conditions by licensed medical professionals and that searches generally be performed by persons of the same sex as the person being searched, except for licensed medical professionals. SB 54‑90 would offer specific options for searches of transgender or intersex persons, including allowing the detained person to choose the gender of the person conducting the search, to request a medical professional, to have the search performed by female staff, or to have the search conducted in accordance…