Expanding the definition of law enforcement personnel regarding correctional officers for purposes of interest arbitration.

SB 5972 amends Washington state law to include correctional officers as "uniformed personnel" for interest arbitration. This change specifically covers correctional employees working in jails, correctional facilities, or detention facilities located in counties with populations over 700,000 (for jails) or 1.5 million (for correctional facilities). The bill directly affects these correctional officers by granting them eligibility to negotiate wages, hours, and working conditions through interest arbitration - a process previously unavailable to them. The policy change updates the legal definition to align correctional officers with other public safety personnel like law enforcement and firefighters.