KCPAO Urges Improvements to the Crime Victim Bill of Rights

Yesterday, the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office (KCPAO) urged the legislature to adopt House Bill 1916 which would modernize and improve Washington’s Crime Victims Bill of Rights.

In testimony before the House Public Safety Committee, KCPAO Director of Victim Services, Colleen McIngalls, outlined how the bill would extend victim rights to include civil commitment proceedings and give crime victims new recourse to seek a court order of compliance if their rights are violated.

“Currently there are no formal mechanisms to afford victim rights [in civil] proceedings, and we know that civil commitment proceedings are no less traumatic for sexual assault survivors, homicide survivors, and violent crime survivors to understand and navigate.” said McIngalls. “Extending these basic, fundamental rights to these cases provides victims the necessary notice, access to resources (like a victim advocate), and appropriate intercession with their employer — and is a critical and necessary advancement.”

Since taking on the role of Director of Victim Services in 2020, Colleen has worked to expand resources for victims of crime by making more online tools available to the public and investing in victim services.

A full transcript is available below.

TRANSCRIPT: Thank you, Chair Goodman. My name is Colleen McIngalls, and I work as the Director of Victim Services at the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.

I want to start today by thanking the survivors for their testimony and their continued advocacy on behalf of other survivors.

I’m going to focus my testimony on Section 2 of House Bill 1916. The legislature was clear with its intent when it passed Article 1, Section 35 of the Washington State Constitution regarding the declaration of rights for victims. The aim is to ensure victims a meaningful role in the criminal justice system and accord them due dignity, respect, and are subsequently provided basic and fundamental rights.

House Bill 1916 addresses critical and necessary updates to the Crime Victim Bill of Rights by extending the relief to any crime victim, including victims who are thrust through the forensic and sexual violent predator commitment proceedings. Currently there are no formal mechanisms to afford victims’ rights who are going through those proceedings, and we know that civil commitment proceedings are no less traumatic for sexual assault survivors, homicide survivors, and violent crime survivors to understand and navigate than the adversarial criminal justice system.

We also know that critical decisions are determined through these proceedings, and have a direct affect on the health and safety of crime victims and survivors who have no formal notice of any rights through those proceedings. Extending these basic, fundamental rights to these cases provides victims the necessary notice, access to resources (like a victim advocate), and appropriate intercession with their employer — and is a critical and necessary advancement.

House Bill 1916 also establishes that crime victims have a right to seek a court order directing compliance with any rights violated through this process. This necessary update aligns Washington state with other states and the Federal Crime Victims Bill of Rights which affords recourse and should be fundamental. I urge you to approve this recommendation. Thank you.