Washington HB 2493: Concerning ready-to-serve alcoholic beverages.

Bill Text

AN ACT Relating to supporting crime victims and witnesses by 1
promoting victim-centered, trauma-informed responses; amending RCW 2
70.125.030, 70.125.110, and 43.10.801; adding new sections to chapter 3
7.69 RCW; and creating a new section.4
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:5
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature finds that over 500,000 6
women in the United States are at risk of or have undergone female 7
genital mutilation, including 25,000 women and girls in Washington 8
state. The legislature further finds that the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue 9
metro is among the five highest rates of impacted and at-risk 10
communities in the United States, making addressing female genital 11
mutilation and other sexual violence critical.12
It is the intent of the legislature to expand the rights of 13
survivors of sexual assault to survivors of all acts of sexual 14
violence, including female genital mutilation. The legislature 15
further intends to extend the life cycle of the SAFE advisory group 16
and expand its duties to include researching and making 17
recommendations on trauma-informed, culturally sensitive policies to 18
prevent and address female genital mutilation and other acts of 19
sexual violence.20
H-2924.1
HOUSE BILL 2493
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2026 Regular Session
By Representatives Stearns, Taylor, Simmons, Davis, Scott, Reeves,
Doglio, Goodman, Ormsby, Hill, Reed, and Parshley
Read first time 01/15/26. Referred to Committee on Community Safety.
p. 1 HB 2493

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. A new section is added to chapter 7.69 RCW 1
to read as follows:2
(1) In any case involving sexual assault or domestic violence in 3
which the defendant is proceeding pro se, at the request of the 4
prosecutor or plaintiff, the court may appoint a representative of 5
the pro se defendant solely for the purpose of conducting the direct 6
questioning of the victim or survivor during trial preparation and at 7
trial.8
(2) The court-appointed representative may ask only those 9
questions submitted by the pro se defendant. The court will permit 10
reasonable recesses to allow the pro se defendant to submit written 11
follow-up questions to the court-appointed representative, ensuring 12
the defendant retains full rights to examination of the witness.13
NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. A new section is added to chapter 7.69 RCW 14
to read as follows:15
Any minor age 13 years or older may consent to a forensic 16
examination conducted for the purposes of gathering evidence for 17
possible prosecution for domestic violence assault involving nonfatal 18
strangulation.19
Sec. 4. RCW 70.125.030 and 2012 c 29 s 10 are each amended to 20
read as follows:21
The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter 22
unless the context clearly requires otherwise.23
(1) "Community sexual assault program" means a community-based 24
social service agency that is qualified to provide and provides core 25
services to victims of sexual assault.26
(2) "Core services" means those services that are victim-centered 27
community-based advocacy responses to alleviate the impact of sexual 28
assault, as delineated in the Washington state sexual assault 29
services plan of 1995 and its subsequent revisions.30
(3) "Department" means the department of commerce.31
(4) "Female genital mutilation" has the same meaning as in RCW 32
9A.36.175.33
(5) "Law enforcement agencies" means police and sheriff's 34
departments and tribal law enforcement departments or agencies of 35
this state.36
p. 2 HB 2493

(((5))) (6) "Personal representative" means a friend, relative, 1
attorney, or employee or volunteer from a community sexual assault 2
program or specialized treatment service provider.3
(((6))) (7) "Services for underserved populations" means 4
culturally relevant victim-centered community-based advocacy 5
responses to alleviate the impact of sexual assault, as delineated in 6
the Washington state sexual assault services plan of 1995 and its 7
subsequent revisions.8
(((7))) (8) "Sexual assault" means one or more of the following:9
(a) Rape or rape of a child;10
(b) Assault with intent to commit rape or rape of a child;11
(c) Incest or indecent liberties;12
(d) Child molestation;13
(e) Sexual misconduct with a minor;14
(f) Custodial sexual misconduct;15
(g) Crimes with a sexual motivation;16
(h) Sexual exploitation or commercial sex abuse of a minor;17
(i) Promoting prostitution; or18
(j) An attempt to commit any of the aforementioned offenses.19
(((8))) (9) "Specialized services" means those services intended 20
to alleviate the impact of sexual assault, as delineated in the 21
Washington state sexual assault services plan of 1995 and its 22
subsequent revisions.23
(((9))) (10) "Victim" means any person who suffers physical, 24
emotional, financial, and psychological impact as a proximate result 25
of a sexual assault.26
Sec. 5. RCW 70.125.110 and 2025 c 124 s 3 are each amended to 27
read as follows:28
(1) In addition to all other r