Senate Republicans blame Inslee for release of prisoners

  • By Rachel La Corte Associated Press
  • Wednesday, May 25, 2016 12:23pm
  • Local News

OLYMPIA — A Washington state Republican Senate panel investigation casts blame at both Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee and former Department of Corrections Secretary Bernie Warner for a three-year delay in fixing an error that led to the early release of thousands of prisoners.

The report was released Wednesday, three months after Inslee released his own independent report conducted by two former federal prosecutors that found that a series of missteps within the agency and the lack of prioritization or follow up by several employees were to blame for the agency’s failure to quickly fix the software programming error once it was brought to their attention. The error, which affected sentencing calculations, ultimately led to the early release of about 3,000 prisoners. The error went unnoticed at the agency for more than a decade and then went unfixed for an additional three years.

At least two deaths have been tied to the early releases.

While Warner drew most of the lawmakers’ ire, Inslee was criticized in the latest report for not having more oversight over the agency.

The Senate report says that the governor’s report ignored key issues related to how the agency was run, saying that “mismanagement was systemic, and it started at the top levels of state government.”

“This was not a ‘software glitch,”’ the report reads. “It was a failure of leadership.”

The lawmakers suggested legislation that incorporates several of their report recommendations, which include a review of staffing levels in the IT and records departments, requiring the governor to have systems in place to directly monitor performance at key agencies, and requiring an agency-wide hand count in the event of any future computer error that leads to early prisoner releases. The lawmakers also want to create an ombuds office at the Department of Corrections that is independent of both the agency and the governor.

In a written statement, Inslee spokeswoman Jaime Smith said that there was “nothing new” in the Senate report.

“Senate Republicans say exactly what the governor has been saying for months – that this starts with Bernie Warner,” she wrote, calling the report “a clearly partisan effort that is already being used for political purposes.”

The problem began with the agency’s move to comply with a July 2002 state Supreme Court ruling that required the Department of Corrections to apply good-behavior credits earned in county jail to state prison sentences. However, an incorrect computer formula ended up giving prisoners with sentencing enhancements too much so-called good time credit.

The agency was first alerted to the error in December 2012, when a victim’s family learned of a prisoner’s imminent release. The family did its own calculations and found he was being credited with too much time.

An assistant attorney general advised the agency at the time that it wasn’t necessary to manually recalculate other prisoners’ sentences, saying that waiting for a programming fix for the other cases should be sufficient. However, that fix was repeatedly delayed for the next three years.

That delay, the report states, “was largely due to failed management, starting with former Secretary Warner’s grossly inadequate management style and practices.”

The Senate, which held a series of public hearings earlier this year, cited employees who said Warner was a poor communicator who failed to make timely decisions.

Warner, who was appointed by then-Gov. Chris Gregoire in 2011, left his job last October to work at a private company in Utah that runs prisons in eight states. A phone message left for Warner was not immediately returned.

The report argues that “lack of competent oversight from the governor’s office contributed to the delay” of the required fix and that “the governor’s office failed to recognize the serious management problems within DOC and took no action to correct them. “

The fallout from the error included a resignation, two demotions and two reprimands of state employees. But the Senate report says that the governor, who is up for re-election this year, focused on blaming mid-level managers instead of higher up the chain at the agency or within the governor’s office.

Republican Sen. Mike Padden, the chairman of the Senate Law and Justice Committee, said Wednesday that the Senate’s report “is another viewpoint, and, I think, a valid one.”

The Senate report notes that while the panel’s investigation has “largely concluded” it may later issue a supplemental report if the senators receive more information.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

Imagine Children's Museum's incoming CEO, Elizabeth "Elee" Wood. (Photo provided by Imagine Children's Museum)
Imagine Children’s Museum will welcome new CEO in June

Nancy Johnson, who has led Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett for 25 years, will retire in June.

Kelli Littlejohn, who was 11 when her older sister Melissa Lee was murdered, speaks to a group of investigators and deputies to thank them for bringing closure to her family after over 30 years on Thursday, March 28, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘She can rest in peace’: Jury convicts Bothell man in 1993 killing

Even after police arrested Alan Dean in 2020, it was unclear if he would stand trial. He was convicted Thursday in the murder of Melissa Lee, 15.

Ariel Garcia, 4, was last seen Wednesday morning in an apartment in the 4800 block of Vesper Dr. (Photo provided by Everett Police)
Everett police searching for missing child, 4

Ariel Garcia was last seen Wednesday at an apartment in the 4800 block of Vesper Drive. The child was missing under “suspicious circumstances.”

The rezoned property, seen here from the Hillside Vista luxury development, is surrounded on two sides by modern neighborhoods Monday, March 25, 2024, in Lake Stevens, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Despite petition, Lake Stevens OKs rezone for new 96-home development

The change faced resistance from some residents, who worried about the effects of more density in the neighborhood.

Rep. Suzan DelBene, left, introduces Xichitl Torres Small, center, Undersecretary for Rural Development with the U.S. Department of Agriculture during a talk at Thomas Family Farms on Monday, April 3, 2023, in Snohomish, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Under new federal program, Washingtonians can file taxes for free

At a press conference Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene called the Direct File program safe, easy and secure.

Former Snohomish County sheriff’s deputy Jeremie Zeller appears in court for sentencing on multiple counts of misdemeanor theft Wednesday, March 27, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Ex-sheriff’s deputy sentenced to 1 week of jail time for hardware theft

Jeremie Zeller, 47, stole merchandise from Home Depot in south Everett, where he worked overtime as a security guard.

Everett
11 months later, Lake Stevens man charged in fatal Casino Road shooting

Malik Fulson is accused of shooting Joseph Haderlie to death in the parking lot at the Crystal Springs Apartments last April.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.