(April 5, 2021) - The Washington state Senate has voted 28-21 to pass legislation that bans the use of for-profit private detention centers.

H.B. 1090, 67th Leg., Reg. Sess. (Wash. 2021).

House Bill 1090, which passed in the state House on Feb. 23 with a 76-21 vote, currently awaits the signature of Gov. Jay Inslee, who has indicated support for the legislation.

The bill prohibits the state from entering into contracts with private detention facilities. However, it exempts private detention facilities that entered a valid government contract before 2021.

Facilities that provide mental health, counseling or medical services to juveniles are also exempt from the ban.

The bill's passage will make Washington one of 20 states in the country that have prohibited the use of private for-profit detention facilities.

In 2019, California passed similar legislation to curb the use of for-profit prisons for the detention of immigrants.

Democratic Rep. Lillian Ortiz-Self, a co-sponsor of the bill, told local media that the testimony of persons that suffered abuse at a Tacoma, Washington, for-profit immigrant detention center was key to the bill's passage.