Washington legal term
Chronic illegal activity in Washington Criminal Law
Current through 2026 Washington legislative session
In Washington criminal law, “Chronic illegal activity” is a term defined by statute rather than by its everyday meaning. Its statutory definition — quoted verbatim below — controls how the term is applied throughout the Washington criminal code.
What does “Chronic illegal activity” mean in Washington criminal law?
"Chronic illegal activity" means (a) a pervasive pattern of activity that threatens the public health, safety, and welfare of the city, town, or county including, but not limited to, open container violations, assaults, disturbances, disorderly conduct, or other criminal law violations, or as documented in crime statistics, police reports, emergency medical response data, calls for service, field data, or similar records of a law enforcement agency for the city, town, county, or any other municipal corporation or any state agency; or (b) an unreasonably high number of citations for violations (RCW 69.50.331)
Statutes defining or using this term
Related terms in the same statutes
This reference is informational and is not legal advice.