HB 1399 Washington House · 2025-2026 Regular Session

Modernizing, harmonizing, and clarifying laws concerning sheriffs, chiefs, marshals, and police matrons.

HB 1399 standardizes eligibility and certification requirements for sheriffs, police chiefs, and marshals across Washington state. It requires new appointees to obtain state peace officer certification within 12 months, mandates background checks before appointment, and limits volunteers from performing enforcement duties (like arrests or carrying weapons) without certification. The bill also repeals outdated provisions about "police matrons" and clarifies that sheriffs' core duty is enforcing state law. These changes aim to create consistent standards for all law enforcement executives, regardless of their election or appointment process.

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 · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

Bill → Substitute Bill · 6 edits

MODERATE

This bill modernizes laws governing law enforcement executives and volunteers by clarifying accountability standards, updating volunteer role restrictions, and streamlining background investigation processes. It expands the list of permissible volunteer roles to include faith leadership and domestic animal care while explicitly prohibiting the use of dogs for tracking non-search-and-rescue purposes. The bill also reduces the background check submission deadline for sheriff candidates from three months to two months and adds immunity for entities providing background information to the commission.

Scope change

The bill's scope was expanded to include a new requirement for immunity from civil liability for entities providing background information to the commission, and the applicability of volunteer restrictions was clarified to explicitly cover the use of dogs for tracking people or animals outside of search and rescue operations.

REQUIREMENT

Reduced the deadline for submitting background investigation requests for sheriff candidates from three months to two months before the election filing deadline.

Expanded the list of permissible roles for volunteers and specially commissioned officers to include serving as faith leaders, caring for domestic animals, and helping with traffic management that does not enforce criminal laws.

Explicitly prohibited the use of dogs to track people or animals for any purpose other than search and rescue.

Changed the commission's directive from adopting 'rules' regarding disqualifying criteria to issuing 'guidelines,' potentially altering the legal weight and process for establishing these standards.

ENFORCEMENT

Added a new provision granting immunity from civil liability to individuals, legal entities, and government agencies that provide information to the criminal justice training commission in good faith.

DEFINITION

Removed the requirement that volunteers and specially commissioned officers must receive the same fees as constables.

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Jan 12, 2026

Committee

Referred to Community Safety.

lower

Jan 12, 2026

Lower · Passed

Rules Committee relieved of further consideration.

lower

Jan 12, 2026

Introduced

By resolution, reintroduced and retained in present status.

lower

Feb 28, 2025

Committee

Referred to Rules 2 Review.

lower

Feb 26, 2025

Lower · Passed

Minority; do not pass.

lower

Feb 26, 2025

Lower · Passed

Executive action taken in the House Committee on Appropriations at 1:30 PM.

lower

Feb 19, 2025

Lower · Passed

Public hearing in the House Committee on Appropriations at 4:00 PM.

lower

Feb 10, 2025

Committee

Referred to Appropriations.

lower

Feb 6, 2025

Lower · Passed

Minority; do not pass.

lower

Feb 6, 2025

Lower · Passed

Executive action taken in the House Committee on Community Safety at 8:00 AM.

lower

Jan 27, 2025

Lower · Passed

Public hearing in the House Committee on Community Safety at 1:30 PM.

lower

1 primary · 4 co-sponsors