SB 5147 Washington Senate · 2025-2026 Regular Session

Reviewing laws related to criminal insanity and competency to stand trial.

SB 5147 establishes a 24-member task force to review Washington State’s laws on criminal insanity and competency to stand trial (covered under Chapter 10.77 RCW). The task force includes representatives from courts, prosecutors, defense attorneys, mental health services, law enforcement, victims’ advocacy, and people with lived experience in the forensic mental health system. Its work will focus on modernizing laws to improve clarity, reduce stigma, remove administrative barriers, and enhance treatment and safe discharges. The task force must report recommendations to the legislature by December 1, 2026, with the bill expiring June 30, 2027.

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 · 4 edits

MODERATE

The bill was renumbered and reorganized from a Senate Bill to a Substitute Bill, shifting sponsorship to the Law & Justice Committee. The most significant substantive change is the removal of legislative caucus representatives from the task force, replacing them with a plaintiff's attorney and a behavioral health organization representative. Additionally, the reimbursement section was simplified to remove specific travel rules for legislative members, and the staff support section was updated to clarify the role of the office of program research.

Scope change

The bill's scope regarding task force membership composition changed by removing partisan legislative representation and adding specific legal and organizational representation.

ELIGIBILITY

Removed requirements for senators and representatives to serve on the task force, replacing them with a plaintiff's attorney and a behavioral health organization representative.

REQUIREMENT

Simplified the reimbursement section by removing specific rules about travel expenses for legislative members.

Updated the staff support section to explicitly state that the office of program research may provide support for statutory research and drafting.

TECHNICAL

Changed the bill number from S-0177.3 to S-0818.1 and updated the sponsor attribution to reflect committee sponsorship.

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.

upper

Feb 3, 2025

Upper · Passed

Public hearing in the Senate Committee on Ways & Means at 4:00 PM.

upper

Jan 24, 2025

Committee

Referred to Ways & Means.

upper

Jan 23, 2025

Committee

And refer to Ways & Means.

upper

Jan 23, 2025

Upper · Passed

Executive action taken in the Senate Committee on Law & Justice at 10:30 AM.

upper

Jan 20, 2025

Upper · Passed

Public hearing in the Senate Committee on Law & Justice at 10:30 AM.

upper

1 primary · 4 co-sponsors