RCW 7.98.010 Definitions.

The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter unless the context clearly requires otherwise.

(1) "Certification" means any law enforcement certification or statement required by federal immigration law including, but not limited to, the information required by 8 U.S.C. Sec. 1184 (o) and (p), or any successor statutes regarding T or U nonimmigrant visas or their successor programs, including current United States citizenship and immigration services form I-914 supplement B or form I-918 supplement B, respectively, and any successor forms.

(2) "Certifying agency" means a state or local law enforcement agency, prosecutor, administrative judge, hearing office, or other authority that has responsibility for the investigation or prosecution of criminal activity. A certifying agency includes an agency that has investigative jurisdiction in its respective area of expertise including, but not limited to, the Washington state patrol, the Washington department of labor and industries, and the Washington department of social and health services.

(3) "Criminal activity" includes any activity that constitutes a crime as defined in RCW 7.69.020, for which the nature and elements of the offenses are substantially similar to the offenses described in 8 U.S.C. Sec. 1101(a)(15)(U), and the attempt, conspiracy, or solicitation to commit any of those offenses.

(4) "Law enforcement agency" means any agency in Washington that qualifies as a criminal justice agency under RCW 10.97.030(5) and is charged with the enforcement of state, county, municipal, or federal laws, or with managing custody of detained persons in the state, and includes municipal police departments, sheriff's departments, campus police departments, the Washington state patrol, and the juvenile justice rehabilitative administration.

(5) "Law enforcement official" means any officer or other agent of a state or local law enforcement agency authorized to enforce criminal statutes, regulations, or local ordinances.

(6) "Victim of criminal activity" means any individual who has: (a) Reported criminal activity to a law enforcement agency or certifying agency, or otherwise participated in the detection, investigation, or prosecution of criminal activity; and (b) suffered direct or proximate harm as a result of the commission of any criminal activity and may include, but is not limited to, an indirect victim, regardless of the direct victim's immigration or citizenship status, including the spouse, children under twenty-one years of age and, if the direct victim is under twenty-one years of age, parents, and unmarried siblings under eighteen years of age where the direct victim is deceased, incompetent, or incapacitated. Bystander victims must also be considered. More than one victim may be identified and provided with certification depending upon the circumstances. For purposes of this subsection, "incapacitated" means unable to interact with law enforcement agency or certifying agency personnel as a result of a cognitive impairment or other physical limitation, or because of physical restraint or disability or age, such as minors. This definition applies to this chapter only.

(7) "Victim of trafficking" means any individual who is or has been a victim of human trafficking, which includes, but is not limited to, the following acts: (a) Sex trafficking in which a commercial sex act was induced by force, fraud, or coercion; (b) sex trafficking and the victim was under the age of eighteen years; (c) recruiting, harboring, transportation of, providing, or obtaining a person for labor or services through the use of force, fraud, or coercion for subjection to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery; or (d) another act or circumstance involving human trafficking.

[ 2018 c 86 § 3.]