Wash. Rev. Code » Title 9 · Chapter 9.95
Revised Code of Washington

Wash. Rev. Code § 9.95.010 (2026)

Court to fix maximum sentence

✓ current as of May 2026
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When a person, whose crime was committed before July 1, 1984, is convicted of any felony, except treason, murder in the first degree, or carnal knowledge of a child under ten years, and a new trial is not granted, the court shall sentence such person to the penitentiary, or, if the law allows and the court sees fit to exercise such discretion, to the reformatory, and shall fix the maximum term of such person's sentence only.
The maximum term to be fixed by the court shall be the maximum provided by law for the crime of which such person was convicted, if the law provides for a maximum term. If the law does not provide a maximum term for the crime of which such person was convicted the court shall fix such maximum term, which may be for any number of years up to and including life imprisonment but in any case where the maximum term is fixed by the court it shall be fixed at not less than twenty years.
[ 2001 2nd sp.s. c 12 s 319; 1955 c 133 s 2. Prior: 1947 c 92 s 1, part; 1935 c 114 s 2, part; Rem. Supp. 1947 s 10249-2, part.]

Notes:

Intent—Severability—Effective dates—2001 2nd sp.s. c 12: See notes following RCW 71.09.250.
Application—2001 2nd sp.s. c 12 ss 301-363: See note following RCW 9.94A.030.
Punishment: Chapter 9.92 RCW.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 85 cases (5 in the last 5 years), 1953–2024 · leading case: State v. Lewis, 548 P.2d 587 (Wash. Ct. App. 1976).
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State v. Lewis, 548 P.2d 587 (Wash. Ct. App. 1976). · cites it 6× “025(1) and RCW 9.95.010, defendant was sentenced to a maximum term of 20 years, and it is from that sentence he appeals.”
Mempa v. Rhay, 389 U.S. 128 (1967). · cites it 2× “Wash. Rev. Code § 9.95.010 . The actual determination of the length of time to be served is to be made by the Board of Prison Terms and Paroles within six months after the convicted person is admitted to prison.”
State v. Fain, 617 P.2d 720 (Wash. 1980). · cites it 2× “RCW 9.95.010. Class A felonies include: murder in the second degree (RCW 9A.”
State v. King, 925 P.2d 606 (Wash. 1996). · cites it 3× “he board of prison terms and paroles was redesignated the indeterminate sentence review board in 1986. Laws of 1986, ch. 224. Under this state’s prior indeterminate sentencing scheme the trial court set only the maximum term of confinement while the Parole Board set the minimum…”
State v. Phelan, 671 P.2d 1212 (Wash. 1983). · cites it 2× “RCW 9.95.010; RCW 9.95.100. For certain specified crimes, a mandatory minimum sentence must be fixed as well.”
State v. Rice, 320 P.3d 723 (Wash. Ct. App. 2014). · cites it 3× “210(2), RCW 9.95.010, and RCW 9.95.100. *316 But these statues do not resolve the ambiguity of RCW 9.”
In Re the Pers. Restraint of Phelan, 647 P.2d 1026 (Wash. 1982). · cites it 2× “) The Attorney General relied on RCW 9.95.010 at the Court of Appeals to argue that a trial court has no authority to set anything but the full maximum sentence in a probation revocation.”
State v. Hystad, 671 P.2d 793 (Wash. Ct. App. 1983). · cites it 2× “Hystad, count one you are charged with the possession of a controlled substance, the charging part of count one of the information reads as follows: The said Kathleen New and Leonard Hystad in the County of Pierce, State of Washington, on or about the 17th day of November 1971,…”
State v. Haner, 631 P.2d 381 (Wash. 1981). · cites it 2× “, RCW 9.95.010; 9.95.030; 9.95.200. Thus, to have any meaning beyond its ordinary sentencing powers, the court's authority to approve or deny a plea bargain must include the right to refuse or allow the dismissal or amendment of the charges.”
Matter of Pers. Restraint of Cashaw, 866 P.2d 8 (Wash. 1994). “An inmate who behaves well in prison may be released on parole prior to serving the full minimum term. This is accomplished through the granting of "time credit reductions”, generally referred to as good-time credits, which can be awarded in amounts up to one-third the length of…”
Stiltner v. Rhay, 258 F. Supp. 487 (E.D. Wash. 1965). · cites it 5× “The conviction from which this petitioner seeks his freedom is a sentence of not more than twenty years, under RCW 9.95.010, nor less than five years, under RCW 9.”
Reanier v. Smith, 517 P.2d 949 (Wash. 1974). · cites it 2× “Generally speaking, under the prevailing statutory scheme of indeterminate sentences in the state of Washington, a sentencing court which sentences a convicted felon to state penal servitude must impose the maximum term for the offense where that term is fixed by statute.”
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