S-3617.1
SENATE BILL 5891
State of Washington
69th Legislature
2026 Regular Session
By Senators Wagoner, Kauffman, Frame, Nobles, Shewmake, and C. Wilson
Prefiled 12/15/25. Read first time 01/12/26. Referred to Committee on State Government, Tribal Affairs & Elections.
AN ACT Relating to preserving records and artifacts regarding the historical treatment of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities at Northern state hospital; creating new sections; and providing an expiration date.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature intends that the secretary of state organize, catalogue, and store records existing in the Northern state hospital archives and that they be held in perpetuity, preserving documents related to the memories of those who lived and worked at Northern state hospital, honoring their lives and who they were as people.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. (1) The division of archives and records management, working with the University of Washington institute on human development and disability, the department of social and health services, and the department of archaeology and historic preservation, shall create a preservation plan to organize, catalogue, and store the historical documents and artifacts identified at Northern state hospital, a state-operated facility. Historical documents and artifacts may include but are not limited to medical records, letters, images, films, and artifacts of past residents with intellectual or developmental disabilities at Northern state hospital.