End of Sentence Review Committee

The Department of Corrections and its partners strive to keep communities safe.  One issue of community safety is managed through the registration and notification of sex offenders and kidnappers leaving state incarceration.

Management also includes external controls ranging from requiring them to register with local sheriffs’ departments and imposing conditions of release to civil commitment in locked facilities that offer treatment.

The End of Sentence Review Committee (ESRC) reviews all sex and registerable kidnapping offenders releasing from state prisons, mental hospitals or juvenile rehabilitation facilities. The ESRC Rules of Order (Word) provides detailed information about the committee’s operation.

Offenders reviewed by the ESRC include those:

  • Convicted of sex offenses
  • Found not guilty because of insanity
  • Found legally incompetent to stand trial
  • Convicted of sexually motivated offenses
  • Convicted of kidnapping/unlawful imprisonment offenses.

The committee also reviews offenders who have committed crimes against children and those of special interest who are considered a high risk to commit violent offenses.

The ESRC consists of the representatives of state and local agencies that release sex offenders. Membership includes:

The committee uses an assessment guide known as the Washington State Sex Offender Risk Level Classification Revised 1999 Instrument (PDF) as its principal means for assigning risk levels to registerable sex offenders, although the state is in the process of adopting a new assessment tool.

Due to the number of cases requiring review, the End of Sentence Review Committee includes three subcommittees, in addition to the primary committee, which meet monthly to review

  • Juvenile sex offenders
  • Offenders who present a lower risk of sexual reoffense within the community at large, registerable kidnappers, offenders who have committed crimes against children and those who may be of interest to the Children's Administration or Aging and Disability Services Administration
  • Sex offenders who may be referred for civil commitment as sexually violent predators.

Registerable sex offenders are placed in one of three classifications when their risk assessment indicates:

  • Level 1 – Low risk of sexual re-offense within the community at large. Sheriffs’ departments share information about them with other law enforcement agencies  and may disclose information to the public upon request
  • Level 2 – Moderate risk of sexual re-offense within the community at large. The Sheriffs’ departments may share information about them with schools, child care centers, businesses, neighbors and community groups near their expected residence or places where they are regularly found
  • Level 3 – High risk of sexual re-offense within the community at large. In addition to the type of disclosures made for Level 2 sex offenders, Sheriffs’ departments can provide information about them to the public at large

All registerable sex offenders must register with their county sheriff’s departments.

State agencies issue notifications to other agencies about the impending release of offenders.  These notifications may be sent to the DSHS Children's Administration or the DSHS Aging and Disability Services Administration, police agencies, mental health authorities, and licensing agencies which issue certificates and other documents that potentially could give offenders access to vulnerable people.

The ESRC also makes recommendations involving individuals who appear to meet criteria for civil commitment under RCW 71.09 as a Sexually Violent Predator. ESRC also makes recommendations to the courts involving sexually violent predators. Learn more about Civil Commitment.

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