Legislative Sub-Committee on Law and Justice

The inaugural meeting of the newly appointed legislative sub-committee on law and justice issues met on August 15 to begin the process of considering legislative issues and proposals, and identifying priorities to be forwarded for the full AWC Board later this fall.

The committee, chaired by Pullman Mayor Glenn Johnson, had a very productive meeting that considered six full pages of issues expected to be on the table during the 2009 session. Many, such as gang-related crimes and funding for prevention, intervention, and suppression, are expected to be advanced by groups other than cities, but impact city services and quality of life issues.

At the conclusion of the meeting, the subcommittee tentatively identified seven top issues that will be further narrowed. Those include:

Mitigating medical costs for offenders,
Limiting liability for local government,
Funding for federal emergency management funding/communications interoperability,
Creating a local option to criminalize certain driving behaviors,
Reviewing DUI laws and on-going studies,
Expanding subject matter jurisdictions in municipal courts.

In addition to this list, committee members were asked for their ideas. We’re also hopeful that the e-mail to all cities soliciting their proposals and ideas for legislation will provide more good ideas for legislation in 2009. We would like to have these ideas for consideration over the next month or two. Criminal justice related issues for consideration by the AWC legislative committee may be e-mailed to tammyf@awcnet.org.

Board of Pharmacy Rule – September 4 Hearing at Fife Community Center

As reported in previous Bulletins, the state Board of Pharmacy (BOP) is considering a rule that would require a licensed medical professional to administer medication to inmates in correctional facilities. As written, it is expected to impact all correctional facilities and will likely increase costs to cities that use those facilities.

Current law distinguishes between "dispense," "administer," and "deliver," and requires licensed medical personnel to perform the first two functions. If prescribed medications are removed from their original packaging and either placed in an intermediate container or handed to the inmate, it is considered to be "administering" drugs, and requires a medical license to perform.

"Delivery" would require handing the original package to the inmate and allowing him or her to self-administer, selecting the dosage personally. While this may be done by unlicensed personnel, obviously for incarcerated individuals, it is problematic. However, this standard is currently applied to group homes where unlicensed staff "medically assist" residents with their prescriptions. For this standard to be applied to correctional facilities, however, requires a change in state law.

The BOP does not have authority to make this change in their rule-making process. AWC will work with organizations such as Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs, Washington State Association of Counties, and others to pursue this or similar changes to minimize the cost impacts to local jurisdictions from this new regulation being considered by the BOP. But, we would encourage interested city officials and staff to share their comments with the BOP at the September 4 hearing in Fife. Please contact Tammy Fellin at tammyf@awcnet.org for further information.

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