# Washington

Washington’s Criminal Justice Training Commission (CJTC) certifies county and city jail corrections officers, while the Department of Corrections (DOC) sets training for its own prison staff, who are not certified. No state body sets or inspects jail standards. Since 2023 the State has made custodial sexual misconduct a felony at both degrees, restored the jail share of academy costs, kept part-time service from ending a jail officer’s certification, opened custody jobs to work-authorized non-citizens, set jail rules for searching transgender and intersex people, and widened DOC bargaining rights.

Source: https://uscli.org/corrections-tracker/washington

## At a glance

- **Certifying body:** [CJTC](https://cjtc.wa.gov/certification) certifies “corrections officers,” meaning corrections agency employees whose primary job is custody, safety, and security of adults “in jails and detention facilities”; the definition “does not include individuals employed by state agencies” (RCW 43.101.010). Jail officers are therefore CJTC-certified, as covered on the [Washington Officer Ledger page](https://uscli.org/officer-certification-tracker/washington). DOC prison officers are not: DOC “is responsible for identifying training standards, designing curricula and programs, and providing the training” for its prisons division staff ([RCW 43.101.220(3)(a)](https://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=43.101.220)).
- **Statute:** [RCW 43.101](https://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=43.101&full=true) (CJTC: certification, background investigations, denial, suspension, and revocation, the public database, corrections training); RCW 10.93.165 and 43.101.098 (corrections officer work authorization); RCW 70.48 (City and County Jails Act, including 70.48.071 local standards, 70.48.500 pregnant restraints, 70.48.506 transgender and intersex searches); RCW 72.09 (DOC); RCW 9A.44.160 to .170 (custodial sexual misconduct); RCW 41.80.200 (DOC interest arbitration). Rules: WAC 139.
- **Minimum standards:** Certification is a condition of employment for jail corrections officers and follows a background investigation covering criminal history, any national decertification index, CJTC records, and prior employers ([RCW 43.101.095](https://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=43.101.095)). For jobs whose primary function is custody, safety, and security of adults in state correctional facilities or local jails, agencies may consider citizens or anyone “legally authorized to work in the United States under federal law” ([RCW 10.93.165(2)](https://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=10.93.165), since March 18, 2026). No statewide minimum age was found in RCW 43.101 or WAC 139.
- **Basic training:** Corrections personnel of the state, counties, and cities must complete basic corrections training that meets CJTC standards. For certified corrections officers hired on or after July 1, 2021, it must be “at least ten weeks in length” and completed within the first six months of employment unless extended or waived (RCW 43.101.220(1)). Employing agencies pay CJTC 25% of the cost in fiscal year 2025 and the 2025 to 2027 biennium (43.101.220(2)). DOC prison staff train under DOC standards (43.101.220(3)(a)); their academy length was not verified.
- **In-service training:** 24 hours a year for every certified officer, including CJTC’s annual online crisis intervention course; since January 1, 2026 this covers certified corrections officers (WAC 139-05-300, as amended by [WSR 24-07-043](https://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/law/wsr/2024/07/24-07-043.htm)). Jails must train security staff to conduct cross-gender searches and searches of transgender and intersex people professionally and in the least intrusive manner (RCW 70.48.506(1)(b), in force June 11, 2026; jails had to adopt compliant standards by September 1, 2026 under 70.48.506(4)).
- **Decertification:** CJTC may deny, suspend, or revoke corrections officer certification on the grounds in RCW 43.101.105, through the hearing process described on the [Officer Ledger page](https://uscli.org/officer-certification-tracker/washington). Public database: yes, by statute ([RCW 43.101.400(4)](https://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=43.101.400)). A jail officer’s certification lapses after a break of more than 24 consecutive months in corrections service (43.101.126).
- **Jail standards:** No state body sets or inspects jail standards. Each city, county, or regional jail operator adopts its own operating standards, after considering guidelines developed collectively by cities or counties, at the minimums needed to meet constitutional and statutory requirements (RCW 70.48.071, since 1988). A joint legislative task force on jail standards ([RCW 70.48.801](https://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=70.48.801)) was directed to recommend statewide minimum standards and whether to restore “a statewide authority to set mandatory minimum jail standards and conduct inspections”; no such authority had been enacted as of October 20, 2026.
- **Probation and parole officers:** DOC runs felony community supervision; community corrections officers are DOC employees. CJTC and DOC develop their training standards jointly (RCW 43.101.220(3)(b)). As state employees they are outside CJTC corrections officer certification, which covers jail staff (43.101.010). DOC employees with interest arbitration rights negotiate one master agreement, and since 2025 DOC managers in the Washington management service also have interest arbitration (RCW 41.80.200, 41.80.010).
- **Restrictive housing:** No statute limiting solitary confinement or restrictive housing in DOC prisons or local jails was found in RCW 72.09 or 70.48 (searched October 20, 2026). HB 1087 (2023 to 2024), on solitary confinement, was not enacted. The jail standards task force was directed to compare Washington jails’ “use of solitary confinement” with other states (RCW 70.48.801(6)(c)).
- **Corrections use of force:** Pregnant women and youth, in jails ([RCW 70.48.500](https://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=70.48.500)) and DOC (72.09.651): except in extraordinary circumstances documented in writing, no restraints during transport to medical visits and court in the third trimester or during postpartum recovery, and no restraints of any kind during labor or childbirth. When restraints are allowed they must be the least restrictive, and “in no case shall leg irons or waist chains be used on any woman or youth known to be pregnant.” Correctional staff may not be in the room during labor unless medical staff ask. Jails may not search a transgender or intersex person “for the sole purpose of determining the individual’s genital status” (70.48.506). Staff sexual contact with inmates or supervisees is custodial sexual misconduct, a felony at both degrees since 2023 (9A.44.160 to .170). No corrections-specific use-of-force statute was found in RCW 72.09 or 70.48.

## Changes, 2023 to 2026

- Jun 11, 2026 — **Jail rules for searching transgender and intersex people** — 2026 c 17 (ESHB 1604), new RCW 70.48.506 and amended RCW 10.79.100 · Effective June 11, 2026, the general effective date for 2026 regular session laws — Jail administrators must adopt search policies that meet this section and the federal PREA rules in effect on January 1, 2025. “A search or physical examination may not be conducted on a transgender or intersex individual confined at the jail for the sole purpose of determining the individual’s genital status.” Jails must train security staff in cross-gender searches and searches of transgender and intersex people. A strip search of a transgender or intersex person must be done by a medical professional, by female staff only, by staff of the gender the person prefers, or according to the person’s stated gender identity, and the person is offered those options under RCW 10.79.100(8). Jails must let people shower, perform bodily functions, and change without nonmedical staff of the opposite gender viewing their breasts, buttocks, or genitalia, except in exigent circumstances or incidental to routine cell checks, and opposite-gender staff must announce themselves on entering a housing unit. — **For corrections staff:** Before strip-searching a transgender or intersex person, offer the search options in RCW 10.79.100(8) and document the choice. — [Laws of 2026, ch. 17](https://leg.wa.gov/media/aqfnmsh0/2026pam1.pdf)[RCW 70.48.506](https://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=70.48.506)
- Jun 11, 2026 — **DOC unions may bargain over supplemental retirement contributions** — 2026 c 189 (HB 1069), amending RCW 41.80.020 and 41.80.040 · Approved March 24, 2026; effective June 11, 2026 — Retirement plans and benefits stay a management right, but “For department of corrections employees, subsection (1)(e) of this section does not prevent the employer from bargaining over contributions for supplemental retirement benefits, including medical plans, administered by, or on behalf of, an employee organization that represents department of corrections employees” (RCW 41.80.040(2)). — **For corrections staff:** Union-run supplemental retirement and retiree medical plans for DOC staff can now be bargained. — [Laws of 2026, ch. 189](https://leg.wa.gov/media/rm0dp4jb/2026pam2.pdf)[RCW 41.80.040](https://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=41.80.040)
- Mar 18, 2026 — **Work-authorized non-citizens eligible for prison and jail custody jobs** — 2026 c 103 (ESB 5068), emergency clause · Effective on signing, March 18, 2026; some sections apply retroactively — New RCW 10.93.165(2): “For purposes of hiring an employee whose primary job function is to provide for the custody, safety, and security of adult persons in state correctional facilities or local jails,” an agency “may consider the application of a citizen of the United States or a person who is legally authorized to work in the United States under federal law.” New 43.101.098 and amended 43.101.095 align corrections officer certification. Amended 43.101.105 bars denying or revoking certification solely on a federal firearms prohibition tied only to immigration status where 18 U.S.C. 925(a)(1) allows possession. Peace officers remain limited to citizens, permanent residents, and DACA recipients. — **For corrections staff:** Jails and DOC can hire work-authorized non-citizens as custody officers. — [Laws of 2026, ch. 103](https://leg.wa.gov/media/aqfnmsh0/2026pam1.pdf)[SB 5068 bill summary](https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=5068&Year=2025)
- Jul 27, 2025 — **Part-time corrections service keeps a jail officer’s certification from lapsing** — 2025 c 349 (SB 5224), amending RCW 43.101.126 and other sections · Effective July 27, 2025, the general effective date for 2025 regular session laws — “A corrections officer’s certification lapses automatically when there is a break of more than 24 consecutive months in the officer’s service as a corrections officer.” The act strikes “full-time” from that sentence, so part-time corrections service now prevents a lapse. Breaks due solely to appeal of a disciplinary discharge or to a work-related injury still do not cause a lapse. The act also applies background investigations to moves between peace officer and corrections roles and changes certification hearing procedure, so that the administrative law judge no longer issues a proposed recommendation and the panel decides. — **For corrections staff:** Part-time jail work keeps your certification active; a gap of more than 24 months from all corrections work still ends it. — [SB 5224 session law](https://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/biennium/2025-26/Pdf/Bills/Session%20Laws/Senate/5224.SL.pdf)[Laws of 2025, pamphlet 2](https://leg.wa.gov/media/rnfdhzo5/2025pam2.pdf)
- Jul 27, 2025 — **DOC managers in the Washington management service gain interest arbitration** — 2025 c 162 (HB 1068), amending RCW 41.80.200 · Effective July 27, 2025 — RCW 41.80.200 gives DOC employees interest arbitration in place of strikes so that supervision of offenders is not interrupted. The act strikes the exclusion of “members of the Washington management service,” so DOC managers in bargaining units can take an impasse to binding interest arbitration. Confidential employees and internal auditors remain excluded. — **For corrections staff:** Represented DOC managers can go to binding interest arbitration if contract talks stall. — [Laws of 2025, ch. 162](https://leg.wa.gov/media/r3ij5ueu/2025pam1.pdf)[RCW 41.80.200](https://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=41.80.200)
- Jul 27, 2025 — **DOC unions with interest arbitration exempt from coalition bargaining** — 2025 c 78 (SHB 1105), amending RCW 41.80.010 · Effective July 27, 2025 — State-employee unions with fewer than 500 members normally bargain as a coalition. The act exempts unions representing DOC employees with interest arbitration rights under 41.80.200, other than those representing DOC marine department employees: “For department of corrections employees, the governor or the governor’s designee and an exclusive bargaining representative shall negotiate one master collective bargaining agreement.” — **For corrections staff:** Smaller DOC bargaining units negotiate their own master agreement instead of joining the state coalition. — [Laws of 2025, ch. 78](https://leg.wa.gov/media/r3ij5ueu/2025pam1.pdf)[RCW 41.80.010](https://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=41.80.010)
- Jul 1, 2024 — **Jails again pay 25% of the basic corrections academy cost** — 2024 c 376 (supplemental operating budget), sec. 909, amending RCW 43.101.220(2); extended by 2025 c 424, sec. 955 · Applies to fiscal year 2025 (July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2025) and the 2025 to 2027 biennium — CJTC provides basic corrections training with facilities, materials, and room and board, “except during fiscal year 2025 and during the 2025-2027 fiscal biennium, when the employing county, municipal corporation, or state agency shall reimburse the commission for twenty-five percent of the cost of training its personnel.” The same cost share applied in the 2017 to 2023 biennia and was absent for fiscal year 2024. The 2025 to 2027 operating budget extends it to June 30, 2027. — **For corrections staff:** Jail budgets must cover a quarter of each new officer’s 10-week academy cost through June 30, 2027. — [Laws of 2024, ch. 376](https://leg.wa.gov/media/opcnd5da/2024pam3.pdf)[Laws of 2025, ch. 424](https://leg.wa.gov/media/efujpg1q/2025pam4.pdf)[RCW 43.101.220](https://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=43.101.220)
- Jul 23, 2023 — **Custodial sexual misconduct by corrections staff becomes a felony at both degrees** — 2023 c 7 (SSB 5033), amending RCW 9A.44.160 and 9A.44.170 · Effective July 23, 2023, the general effective date for 2023 regular session laws — Custodial sexual misconduct is sexual intercourse (first degree) or sexual contact (second degree) by a corrections agency employee or contractor with a person in a jail, prison, detention center, or work release facility, or under correctional supervision, where the employee has or is believed to have influence over the person’s incarceration or supervision; consent is no defense. The act raises first degree from a class C to a class B felony, and second degree from a gross misdemeanor to a class C felony: “Custodial sexual misconduct in the second degree is a … class C felony.” It updates the seriousness levels in RCW 9.94A.515. — **For corrections staff:** Any sexual contact with an inmate or supervisee is a felony, and the person’s consent is no defense. — [Laws of 2023, ch. 7](https://leg.wa.gov/media/0xyi1mqe/2023pam1.pdf)[RCW 9A.44.170](https://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=9A.44.170)

## Enacted, not yet in force, pending, and bills that did not pass

- **Academy cost share ends June 30, 2027:** the 25% employer share in RCW 43.101.220(2) runs through the 2025 to 2027 biennium unless the next budget extends it. [RCW 43.101.220](https://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=43.101.220)
- **Statewide jail standards authority:** the jail standards task force was directed to consider restoring a statewide authority to set mandatory jail standards and inspect jails (RCW 70.48.801(7)(b)); none had been enacted as of October 20, 2026. [RCW 70.48.801](https://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=70.48.801)
- **Pregnant incarcerated individuals:** 2025 c 129 (SSB 5182) amended RCW 72.09.588 on midwifery and doula services, and one version takes effect June 30, 2027; it was not reviewed for staff duties.

Not enacted: HB 1087 (2023 to 2024), limits on solitary confinement, which died at the end of the biennium. [HB 1087](https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=1087&Year=2023) A full sweep for failed corrections bills was not made.

## Checked and unchanged

- RCW 10.93.165 lists 2024 c 11 s 1 and 2026 c 103 s 1 in its history. The 2024 act enacted the section, which lets agencies consider lawful permanent residents for agency positions; its effective date was not confirmed, so it is not counted as an entry.
- RCW 43.101.095 (certification and background investigations, including for corrections officers) was also amended by 2023 c 168 and 2024 c 330; those amendments were not reviewed here. See the [Officer Ledger page](https://uscli.org/officer-certification-tracker/washington) for the current text.
- Not counted: 2026 c 174 (ESHB 2508, Office of Independent Investigations), whose definitions cover deaths and injuries involving jail and correctional facility staff; whether that language is new in 2026 was not compared, because the 2021 session law returned HTTP 404. 2026 c 258 (2SSB 5974) amended RCW 43.101.400 and 43.101.115; its corrections-specific effects were not compared.
- Not verified: DOC prison officer academy length, hiring minimums, and in-service hours, which DOC sets by policy under RCW 43.101.220(3)(a).