Bill to prevent sex offender housing in Washington neighborhood blocked by Democrats

Efforts by Republican lawmakers in Washington to stop or tighten the placement of sexually violent predators (SVPs) in a Kennewick neighborhood suffered a major setback this week after Senate Democrats effectively halted the only bill to reach a committee hearing before a key legislative deadline, according to the Tri-County Herald.

Senate Bill 6339, sponsored by Sen. Nikki Torres (R-Pasco) and Sen. Matt Boehnke (R-Kennewick), would require less restrictive alternative (LRA) housing placements to be owned and operated by the same entity responsible for supervising and providing treatment to SVPs released from McNeil Island.

The bill received a hearing on Wednesday in the Senate Human Services Committee. However, it is not expected to move forward after committee chair Sen. Claire Wilson (D-Auburn) said she would not advance the legislation, claiming during the hearing, “There is some conversation and communication that needs to occur.”

Wilson previously called South Hill Rapist Kevin Coe a “gentleman" who did some "not very nice things" and "caused a bit of a stir,” when he was released.

SB 6339 was part of a broader package of eight bills introduced in the House and Senate by Tri-Cities lawmakers in response to a proposed SVP transition home near the corner of 8th Avenue and Edison Street in Kennewick. The site is under review for housing up to five SVPs—Level 3 sex offenders, the highest risk classification, who have completed prison sentences but were later civilly committed after being found likely to reoffend without secure confinement.

Most SVPs in Washington are held at the Special Commitment Center on McNeil Island, a remote facility originally intended for the state’s most dangerous sex offenders. In recent years, Democrats have worked to transition SVPs into community-based LRAs under court supervision, a policy shift that has generated public backlash in neighborhoods statewide.

The Kennewick proposal has been especially controversial because of its proximity to schools and childcare providers serving more than 7,400 students, and because residents say the placement review blindsided them.

Supporters of SB 6339 argued the bill would increase accountability by preventing a separation between property owners and the contracted treatment operator. The Kennewick home is owned by Lydenne Vieira and Isabel Valle, while supervision and programming would reportedly be handled by Joe Field, a social worker who operates similar facilities elsewhere in Washington, including in Walla Walla. Under SB 6339, Field would be required to own the property as well.

While SB 6339 was the only Tri-Cities bill to reach a hearing, none of the other measures, covering setbacks from schools, restrictions in child-dense neighborhoods, and expanded public notice, advanced before Wednesday’s deadline.

The stalled legislation comes as public safety concerns remain heightened following the recent re-arrest of Richard Eugene Jackson, a repeat child sex offender with a decades-long record of abusing children who previously spent time in state prison and at McNeil Island. Seattle police arrested Jackson in the Chinatown–International District after the department’s Internet Crimes Against Children Unit received 18 cyber-tips alleging he was possessing and distributing child sexual abuse material. Investigators collected evidence from Jackson’s vehicle and apartment on King Street. Prosecutors argued his history shows he is “not capable or unwilling to conform to the law.”

Court records show Jackson has eight prior sex offense convictions, including assaults of a 12-year-old boy and a 7-year-old boy, and earlier child sexual abuse material cases. In a previous case, Jackson admitted to sexually abusing around 70 children. He was sent to McNeil Island in 2003 and later conditionally released to the Secure Community Transition Facility in King County. In March 2025, the state dismissed its SVP petition against him, and he was granted unconditional release, only months before Seattle police opened their new investigation.