Washington HB 1795: Creating the Cooper Jones bicyclist safety advisory council.

Bill Text

CERTIFICATION OF ENROLLMENT
ENGROSSED SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL 1795
Chapter 169, Laws of 2026
69th Legislature
2026 Regular Session
STUDENT RESTRAINT AND ISOLATION—VARIOUS PROVISIONS
EFFECTIVE DATE: June 11, 2026
Passed by the House March 12, 2026
Yeas 58 Nays 37
LAURIE JINKINS
Speaker of the House of
Representatives
Passed by the Senate March 5, 2026
Yeas 28 Nays 20
DENNY HECK
President of the Senate
CERTIFICATE
I, Bernard Dean, Chief Clerk of the
House of Representatives of the
State of Washington, do hereby
certify that the attached is
ENGROSSED SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL
1795 as passed by the House of
Representatives and the Senate on
the dates hereon set forth.
BERNARD DEAN
Chief Clerk
Approved March 24, 2026 10:12 AM FILED
March 25, 2026
BOB FERGUSON
Governor of the State of Washington
Secretary of State
State of Washington

AN ACT Relating to restraint or isolation of students in public 1
schools and educational programs; amending RCW 28A.600.485 and 2
28A.600.486; and creating a new section.3
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:4
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The purpose of this act is to protect 5
students from the physically harmful and emotionally traumatic 6
practices of chemical restraint, mechanical restraint, and physical 7
restraint that interfere with breathing or blood flow. By 2031, it is 8
the legislature's intent to improve the safety and well-being of 9
staff members and students in prekindergarten through 12th grade by 10
implementing a trauma-informed professional development program on 11
evidence-informed alternatives to restraint and isolation that will 12
allow the state to ban isolation practices, provide the technical 13
assistance necessary to successfully operationalize that ban, and 14
enhance the public accountability of school districts and other 15
providers of public educational services.16
Sec. 2. RCW 28A.600.485 and 2015 c 206 s 3 are each amended to 17
read as follows:18
(1) ((The definitions in this subsection apply throughout this 19
section unless the context clearly requires otherwise.20
ENGROSSED SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL 1795
AS AMENDED BY THE SENATE
Passed Legislature - 2026 Regular Session
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2026 Regular Session
By House Education (originally sponsored by Representatives Callan,
Santos, Reed, Farivar, Macri, and Leavitt)
READ FIRST TIME 01/27/26.
p. 1 ESHB 1795.SL

(a) "Isolation" means restricting the student alone within a room 1
or any other form of enclosure, from which the student may not leave. 2
It does not include a student's voluntary use of a quiet space for 3
self-calming, or temporary removal of a student from his or her 4
regular instructional area to an unlocked area for purposes of 5
carrying out an appropriate positive behavior intervention plan.6
(b) "Restraint" means physical intervention or force used to 7
control a student, including the use of a restraint device to 8
restrict a student's freedom of movement. It does not include 9
appropriate use of a prescribed medical, orthopedic, or therapeutic 10
device when used as intended, such as to achieve proper body 11
position, balance, or alignment, or to permit a student to safely 12
participate in activities.13
(c) "Restraint device" means a device used to assist in 14
controlling a student, including but not limited to metal handcuffs, 15
plastic ties, ankle restraints, leather cuffs, other hospital-type 16
restraints, pepper spray, tasers, or batons. Restraint device does 17
not mean a seat harness used to safely transport students. This 18
section shall not be construed as encouraging the use of these 19
devices)) The provisions of this section apply to all staff members 20
of school districts and other providers of public educational 21
services, except for staff members who are licensed or certified 22
health professionals of an inpatient health care facility. However, 23
nothing in this section prohibits a school resource officer as 24
defined in RCW 28A.320.124 from carrying out the lawful duties of a 25
commissioned law enforcement officer. Incidents involving a school 26
resource officer trigger the procedural and reporting requirements in 27
subsections (4) through (7) of this section.28
(2) The provisions of this section apply to all students, 29
including those who have an individualized education program or plan 30
developed under section 504 of the rehabilitation act of 1973. The 31
provisions of this section apply only to incidents of restraint or 32
isolation that occur while a student is participating in school-33
sponsored instruction or activities.34
(3)(a)(i) An individualized education program or plan developed 35
under section 504 of the rehabilitation act of 1973 must not include 36
the use of restraint or isolation as a planned behavior intervention 37
((unless a)) except as provided in this subsection (3)(a)(i). 38
Restraint may be included in such program or plan only if the 39
student's individual needs require more specific adv