HB 1146 Washington House · 2025-2026 Regular Session

Improving access and removing barriers to voting in jails and state hospitals.

HB 1146 requires Washington County auditors, jails, and state hospitals to create joint voting plans by 2026 to improve voting access for people incarcerated in jails or hospitalized at state facilities. The bill mandates specific support, including voter registration assistance, access to ballots eight days before elections, nonpartisan candidate information, and accommodations for people with disabilities. Jails and hospitals must designate voting coordinators, provide materials for registration and ballot completion, and document voting-related requests. Violations can be enforced by the Attorney General, with courts awarding $25,000 penalties for intentional breaches starting in 2030.

Issues: ✓ Criminal Justice

Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Jan 12, 2026 Last action Jan 12, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Bill → Substitute Bill · 5 edits

MODERATE

The bill was amended to expand voting rights protections to include patients in state hospitals alongside jail inmates. The text was also updated to reflect that the bill has moved from the House floor to a committee referral status with a new bill number.

Scope change

The bill's scope was expanded to explicitly include state hospital patients in addition to jail inmates regarding voting access, registration, and ballot handling.

DEFINITION

The definition of 'people who are incarcerated' was narrowed to apply only to jail detainees, while a new definition was added for 'people who are hospitalized' to cover state hospital patients.

ELIGIBILITY

Voting rights, including access to materials and ballot completion, were extended to include hospitalized patients in state hospitals.

REQUIREMENT

Requirements for election officials to enter facilities were modified to allow jails to limit access based on security and operational needs.

The requirement for jails to document complaints was limited to those addressed to the county auditor, and the scope of data collection was reduced.

TECHNICAL

The bill header was updated to reflect its new status as a Substitute Bill with a new number (H-1226.2) and a revised reading date.

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Jan 12, 2026

Introduced

By resolution, reintroduced and retained in present status.

lower

Feb 12, 2025

Committee

Referred to Appropriations.

lower

Feb 7, 2025

Lower · Passed

Minority; do not pass.

lower

Feb 7, 2025

Lower · Passed

Executive action taken in the House Committee on State Government & Tribal Relations at 8:00 AM.

lower

Jan 15, 2025

Lower · Passed

Public hearing in the House Committee on State Government & Tribal Relations at 1:30 PM.

lower

1 primary · 10 co-sponsors