Bill > SB5133

This bill amends the Revised Code of Washington (RCW) to add a new mitigating circumstance that courts can consider when potentially imposing a sentence below the standard sentencing range. Specifically, the bill allows courts to consider a defendant's caregiver status as a potential mitigating factor, provided certain conditions are met. These conditions include that the defendant must be a primary parent, legal guardian, or custodian with physical custody of a minor child, or a primary caregiver for other family members like elders or grandchildren. To qualify, the defendant must not have any substantiated findings of abuse or neglect from child welfare agencies, no current restraining orders preventing contact with the person they are caring for, no convictions where the person they are caring for was the victim, and no convictions involving offenses committed within sight or sound of minor children. The bill adds this caregiver status provision as a new subsection (l) to the existing list of mitigating circumstances that courts may consider when determining whether to impose an exceptional sentence below the standard sentencing range.

Justice

https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=5133&Year=2025&Initiative=false