Committee hears debate over counting foreign convictions in sentencing scores

The Law & Justice Committee considered SB 6203 Feb. 2, a bill aimed at clarifying whether convictions obtained in foreign countries may be included in offender-score calculations under the Sentencing Reform Act.

Ryan Giannini (staff) reviewed the background: under the SRA judges calculate the standard range by offender score and seriousness level; the Washington Supreme Court in State v. Lewis (07/17/2025) found the SRA ambiguous about whether 'out-of-state' convictions include foreign convictions. SB 6203 would clarify that foreign convictions may be counted if they were obtained with sufficient fundamental-fairness and due-process safeguards.

Supporters, including the Washington Association of Prosecuting Attorneys, said the change would close a statutory gap and give judges appropriate discretion to consider relevant foreign convictions — for example, an offender whose violent conviction occurred in British Columbia before an offense in Washington. Prosecutors proposed a narrow amendment to state plainly that out-of-state convictions include foreign convictions and rely on case law to gate which convictions may be counted.

Opponents from the defense bar, the Washington Defender Association and the Director of Public Defense, contended the statutory phrase "sufficient safeguards" is undefined and would require resource-intensive foreign-law investigations, translations and expert testimony. Carrie Anne Yetzer for the Washington State Sentencing Guidelines Commission said the commission unanimously opposed the bill (two prosecuting-attorney reps absent), voicing concerns that there is no reliable system to obtain or validate foreign-conviction records and that application could be unequal across jurisdictions.

The committee did not take a vote. The vice chair reported extensive public engagement: 2,097 pro and 67 con sign-ins. Sponsors and stakeholders may refine language to define standards or rely explicitly on comparability analyses in case law.