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Committee hears briefing on private detention facility bill; full testimony rescheduled
Summary
Staff and sponsor briefed the committee on HB 1232 (private detention facilities): the bill would expand the statute's definition, require DOH operational standards and inspection authority, and increase civil enforcement tools; the committee moved the public hearing to Monday to allow more testimony and fiscal review.
Committee staff Kelsey Ann Fung briefed members on Engrossed 2nd Substitute House Bill 1232, which would expand the statutory definition of "private detention facility" to include any facility operated by a private non‑governmental entity under a government contract (regardless of for‑profit status). The bill would require the Department of Health to adopt operational standards (adequate lighting, access to hot and cold water, housekeeping and maintenance, accommodations for physical and mental disabilities, food service compliance, telephone access, infectious disease controls and abuse reporting), extend inspection authority as resources allow, and require public posting of deficiency statements and enforcement actions.
Staff described enforcement tools including time‑limited corrective conditions, required training or consultant contracts, and civil fines up to $10,000 per violation not to exceed $1,000,000; fine proceeds would be dedicated to DOH training and technical assistance. The bill modifies an existing exemption for certain juvenile facilities to instead exempt facilities licensed by DCYF that provide counseling, treatment, mental health, educational or medical services.
Representative Lillian Ortiz Self, sponsor, framed the measure as a state responsibility to hold facilities operating inside Washington to basic humane standards. "We can't have them leave. It's a federal facility. They get to do what they want, but we can hold them accountable to the standards that we have in this state," Ortiz Self said. A fiscal note cited an estimated DOH cost of about $1,300,000 per biennium and indeterminate county costs connected to Martin Hall, a private juvenile facility contracted by a consortium of counties.
Because the committee's agenda was full, the chair postponed the public hearing on HB 1232 until Monday to allow adequate time for testimony and fiscal review. No formal action or vote occurred at this meeting.
