Under a new pilot program, individuals meeting specific criteria would automatically be scheduled for a vacation hearing.

HB 2793 directs the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) to begin developing a pilot program in partnership with local courts. The program would develop and test an automated system to determine if convicted individuals are eligible for vacation hearings as well as notify local courts of needed vacation hearings. An initial report from the AOC reviewing preliminary findings is due on December 1, 2020.

The AOC will select a single county to participate in the pilot program. All local courts in the selected county are required to participate in the program. The pilot will begin July 1, 2021 and will end June 30, 2022. The goal of the pilot program is to design and test an automated system ready for implementation statewide beginning July 1, 2022.

If the testing process goes according to plan, all sentencing courts will begin conducting regularly scheduled vacation hearings on July 1, 2022. Initially, notifications to courts will be staggered as to not overwhelm the system. Also beginning on July 1, 2020, the AOC will begin collecting and reporting the following information:

• The number of convictions where notifications were sent;
• The number of convictions where the sentencing court scheduled an administrative hearing within 90 days of receiving the notification;
• The number of convictions where the court set a contested hearing;
• The number of convictions where the court vacated the conviction at a contested hearing; and
• The number of convictions where the court denied vacation of the conviction at a contested hearing.

The current estimate is that 8.4 million convictions will qualify for vacation under the bill. Of that amount, the vast majority are misdemeanor and gross misdemeanor convictions. Washington courts do not have a common system for communicating between courts and jurisdictions. Thus, before a record can be vacated, a judicial review of each file is necessary. Additionally, under the Washington State Constitution, each vacation requires a public hearing. There is no funding mechanism included in the legislation to address the costs to local governments.

AWC takes no position on the underlying policy but remains opposed to this unfunded mandate.

Dates to remember

HB 2793 is scheduled for a committee vote in the Senate Law & Justice Committee at 10 am on Thursday, February 27.