Public Safety Committee advances civil cause of action for illegal graffiti, adds reporting and raises penalty

Seattle's Public Safety Committee voted July 8 to recommend passage of Council Bill 120995, an ordinance creating a civil cause of action against illegal graffiti on public and private property and requiring restitution. The measure, as amended by the committee, will go to full City Council on July 15.

The committee adopted three amendments before voting to forward the bill. Vice Chair Alex Saka's Amendment 1 requires the City Attorney to include in its annual report for the next 10 years data on civil cases filed under the new law, including counts, outcomes, ordered penalties or restitution, and whether defendants had prior graffiti-related arrests or court orders. The committee adopted that amendment unanimously, 4-0.

Amendment 2 raised the maximum civil penalty per violation from $1,000 to up to $1,500. Central staff and the City Attorney's office told the committee the change is within prosecutorial discretion; the committee adopted the amendment by recorded vote with two members voting yes and two members abstaining on the amendment (Saka and Chair Robert Kettle voted yes; Council members Hollingsworth and Nelson abstained on Amendment 2). The chair and central staff noted judges retain sentencing and disposition discretion, and community service remains an option where ability to pay is shown.

Amendment 3 removed the word "encourage" from the statute's definition of a "graffiti tagger," while retaining language on "assisting" with graffiti. Central staff said the narrower language aims to avoid infringing First Amendment-protected speech online (for example, sharing or documenting images of graffiti) while preserving civil recourse for people who materially assist in creating or applying illegal graffiti. The committee adopted Amendment 3 unanimously.

Committee members framed the bill as a targeted tool to hold prolific taggers accountable and to reduce costs for property owners and small institutions repeatedly affected by illegal tagging. Council member Hollingsworth stressed the distinction between invited mural art and illegal tagging, saying the bill is intended to address unwanted defacement of businesses, schools and houses of worship.

Public comment before the vote included testimony from Teresa (Theresa/Teresa) Klein, who described frequent antisemitic posters and stickers and urged the city to train staff to identify and remove hateful materials; committee members acknowledged the public-safety and community-harm concerns raised in that comment.

The committee recorded a final 4-0 vote to recommend the bill as amended; the committee record will be transmitted for consideration at the July 15 full Council meeting.