Washington
Every law and rule change USCLI tracks for Washington, across the professions, on one page. Each entry links to its full write-up and official sources.
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Licensing Law Tracker
Washington licenses private investigators and agencies through the Department of Licensing under RCW 18.165. A fee increase is proposed for January 1, 2027, with a hearing on October 27, 2026. Since 2023 covert tracking-device use is charged as stalking, which keeps the defense for licensed investigators, and new privacy laws reach health data, doxing, and license plate reader data.
Full Washington page: every change, its sources, and what has not changed (9 entries).
Fee increase proposed for 2027
The proposal adds a separate $25 application fee to each new investigator license, armed endorsement, and agency license; renewal fees stay single fees. An investigator license would rise from $220 to $250 plus the application fee, and renewal from $193 to…
“Resident alien” becomes “resident noncitizen”
Changes the term in RCW 18.165.030(2), so an applicant must be a citizen or resident noncitizen of the United States. It is the only amendment to chapter 18.165 RCW from 2023 through October 2026.
License plate reader data closed to public records requests
Agency automated license plate reader data is exempt from the Public Records Act except for bona fide research without individually identifiable information. Agencies may not sell or buy it, and vendors of license plate reader systems may not sell or give…
Vehicle owners told the requester is an investigator
Amends RCW 46.12.635(4), under which the Department releases vehicle and vessel owner records to attorneys and private investigators. When a request is granted, the notice sent to the owner now states the requester’s occupation, replacing the earlier…
Immigration-status licensing law excludes investigators
Makes people not lawfully present eligible for most professional licenses and bars denial solely on immigration status, but RCW 18.415.010(6) says the chapter does not apply to private investigators (chapter 18.165 RCW) or security guards.
Officer Certification Tracker
Washington certifies peace and corrections officers through the Criminal Justice Training Commission (CJTC), which by statute keeps a public database of certification actions and reports decertifications to the National Decertification Index. Since 2023 the State has brought limited authority officers into certification, banned hog-tying, loosened vehicle pursuit limits, barred officers from wearing face coverings with the public, and set eligibility and certification rules for sheriffs, police chiefs, and marshals.
Full Washington page: every change, its sources, and what has not changed (19 entries).
De-escalation training and independent investigation rules updated
WSR 26-19-053 updates WAC 139-11 on de-escalation training under the Law Enforcement Training and Community Safety Act (LETCSA). WSR 26-19-054 rewrites WAC 139-12, the LETCSA criteria for independent investigations, into new sections 139-12-040 to -120.…
Hearing rules aligned with the revocation statute
Updates the CJTC rule on service of documents (WAC 139-06-080) and conforms WAC 139-06-150 to RCW 43.101.105.
Independent investigations cover any death after police force; files confidential until referral
The Office of Independent Investigations now has jurisdiction over deadly force and over “any death that occurs during or after any other use of force by an involved officer if the use of force may have caused or contributed” to the death. Covered agencies…
Sheriffs, chiefs, and marshals must be certified; decertified anywhere means barred
Certification is now a condition of employment “or of holding office,” and the option of an exemption is struck (43.101.095(1)). Sheriffs, police chiefs, and marshals must be at least 25, have 5 years of full-time law enforcement employment, have no…
Officers may not wear face coverings with the public
A law enforcement officer “shall not wear a facial covering while interacting with the public in the performance of the officer’s duties.” Officers include peace officers and federal employees or agents who can carry firearms, make warrantless arrests, and…
Forensic Science Tracker
Washington has a Forensic Investigations Council that oversees the State Patrol crime lab bureau and a broad statute on government facial recognition, but no statutory lab accreditation mandate or analyst license. Since 2023 the State has pushed jails to collect owed DNA samples, ended the $100 DNA fee for new sentences, banned at-home sexual assault kits, and widened compensation for the wrongly convicted.
Full Washington page: every change, its sources, and what has not changed (6 entries).
Wrongly Convicted Persons Act broadened
New RCW 4.100.015 defines “actually innocent” and other terms, judged on a preponderance of the evidence. An agent may now file for a claimant who is dead, incapacitated, a minor, or out of state. Qualifying events now include a pardon, commutation, or…
One-year money for genetic genealogy on unidentified remains
The budget gave the State Patrol $500,000 in fiscal 2025 “provided solely for financial assistance to local jurisdictions to conduct DNA testing for unidentified remains, and for those remains that failed to yield a CODIS match, for forensic genetic…
Grant to the Yakima Valley crime lab, including a rapid DNA work group
The budget gave the Department of Commerce $395,000 in fiscal 2025, “provided solely” for a grant to the Yakima Valley local crime lab for firearm crime analysis and data collection, fentanyl death investigations, “and to support the rapid DNA work group.”
Jails must collect owed DNA before release
City and county jails must get owed DNA samples before release and adopt a policy to collect them as soon as practicable (RCW 43.43.754(5)(a)). If a person is released without giving one, the jail tells the court within 3 business days, and the court sets…
At-home sexual assault kits banned
New RCW 5.70.070 bars selling or offering a sexual assault kit marketed as over-the-counter, at-home, or self-collected, or in any way suggesting it can collect evidence other than by law enforcement or a health care provider. A violation is an unfair or…
Last updated October 19, 2026Source: United States Council for Law & Investigation