Senate committee considers making DOC body‑scanner program permanent amid dispute over dry‑cell use

Senate Bill 5,499, sponsored by Senator Leonard Christian, was heard by the Senate Human Services Committee on Feb. 4. The bill would recodify and make permanent a Department of Corrections (DOC) body‑scanner program used to reduce strip searches, screen people entering the secure perimeter and detect contraband.

Committee staff described the pilot’s history: the legislature funded a first body scanner at the Washington Corrections Center for Women (WCCW) in 2018 and in 2022 directed expansion to a male facility and to include staff, contractors and visitors. The 2022 law required training, staffing standards and substance use disorder screening and treatment for people with scans indicating contraband. The SB 5,499 draft follows that 2022 law’s requirements while making the program permanent. A fiscal note attached to the bill showed $12.5 million for the 2025–27 biennium and $13 million ongoing, largely for staff.

DOC officials described program performance and operational details. Deputy Assistant Secretary Chuck Anderson said DOC performed 21,312 body scans on incarcerated people between November 2023 and October 2024; there were 129 positive scans, leading to contraband discovery 99 times. Melissa Andrzejewski, assistant secretary for DOC’s Women's Prison Division, said body scanners have “significantly reduced strip searches” on arrival after visits and off‑site trips and help preserve dignity for a population with high rates of prior trauma. DOC also described radiological dose levels and image clarity tradeoffs: the agency uses very low‑dose scanners (0.025 millirem per scan) that require interpretive skill, and higher‑resolution scanners would generate higher radiation doses per scan.

Opponents urged changes to the program or more safeguards. Molina Pinkham, a Columbia Legal Services staff attorney, testified in opposition and described what she called harmful uses of “dry cell watch” associated with positive scans. She said dry cell watch can involve 24‑hour observation while an individual is placed in a restraint‑style suit and confined in a small cell with continuous observation; she and other advocates told the committee such practices are traumatizing and can cause medical issues (for example, hygiene problems for women) and disproportionately affect survivors of sexual violence and people with certain medical histories. Multiple advocates and community members urged the committee to require reporting and stronger limits on dry cell use and to work with DOC to improve procedures.

Family members and survivor‑advocates spoke in support of codifying scanners as a trauma‑reducing alternative to strip searches. Laurie Dawson, a former member of the Family Council at WCCW, and Karen Lofgren, a former incarcerated person, described body scanners as restoring dignity, enabling visits without strip searches, and serving as a harm‑reduction tool. Sexual‑violence advocates supported codifying scans but asked the legislature to add reporting and safeguards to ensure dry cells are not a substitute trauma.

DOC and advocates agreed on the need for better data and clarified operational practices during Q&A: DOC staff described dry cells as isolation with continuous observation and a non‑flushing toilet intended to allow retrieval of contraband for safety if someone has ingested or inserted items. DOC officials said in many male facility cases staff have been able to persuade people to surrender contraband rather than use dry cell; they also agreed to provide additional data on false‑positive rates and dry‑cell numbers after the hearing.

The bill prompted questions about scanner radiation dose, false positives, staffing for scan operations and nursing monitoring for positive scans, and whether the state should fund scanners at additional facilities. No committee vote was recorded during the hearing; advocates said they would provide suggested amendments and additional data to the committee after the hearing.