Washington Senate Bill SB6249

Washington 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 1/21/26
• Refer: 1/21/26
• Report Pass: 2/4/26

Caption

AN ACT Relating to department of corrections supervision of individuals convicted of stalking;

Summary

SB 6249 expands the Washington Department of Corrections’ supervision authority over certain people convicted of stalking and other specified offenses. The bill amends RCW provisions governing community custody and probation supervision to require DOC supervision for individuals convicted of stalking, and it also lists multiple categories of offenders who must be supervised regardless of risk classification. Those categories include certain sex offenses, domestic violence offenses, failure to register offenses, violent and serious violent offenses, dangerous mentally ill offenders, indeterminate-sentence parolees, and other specified felony convictions. The bill also clarifies that DOC is not authorized to supervise people on community custody or probation unless supervision is required under the amended section. It requires a risk assessment for every felony offender who may be subject to supervision, limits the supervision period to the length of community custody unless an exception applies, and allows the supervision period to be reduced by earned supervision compliance credit. The bill further states that people convicted of misdemeanors and gross misdemeanors supervised under the section are to be placed on community custody.

Impact

SB 6249 would change state corrections law by broadening and clarifying when the Department of Corrections must supervise individuals on community custody or probation, with stalking added as a specific supervised offense and several other offense categories expressly included. It affects RCW provisions governing community custody, probation, risk assessment, supervision duration, and earned compliance credit, and it may increase DOC supervision responsibilities for affected offenders while limiting DOC authority to supervise others not covered by the statute.

Sentiment

The available voting history suggests the bill was received positively in committee, with the Senate Committee on Human Services voting 5-0 to do pass. No committee transcript is available here, so there is no recorded floor or committee debate to indicate opposition or detailed support arguments. Overall, the bill appears to have had clear early support rather than controversy at the committee stage.

Contention

The main policy issue is the expansion of mandatory DOC supervision to additional offender groups, especially people convicted of stalking and certain domestic violence, sex offense, and failure-to-register offenses. Potential points of contention include the breadth of offenses covered, the requirement to supervise some individuals regardless of risk classification, and the practical burden on DOC resources. The bill also includes liability protection language for supervision of certain domestic violence offenders, which could be a point of interest for both advocates and critics.