Monroe Correctional Complex gets new leader

MONROE — So much is familiar; so much is different.

The granite steps leading up to the front door of the century-old Washington State Reformatory are still steep.

The tall columns still look imposing.

Mike Obenland, 51, climbed the steps and walked beneath the impressive masonry many times as a young corrections officer half a life-time ago. It was the early 1990s. He spent a few years working there before moving on.

Earlier this month, Obenland returned, not as a front-line officer, but as the leader of the sprawling Monroe prison. The Monroe Correctional Complex stretches out over 365 acres with different perimeters separating its diverse population of 2,400 minimum-, medium- and maximum-custody inmates. Among other things, it is home to the Special Offenders Unit that houses a mental health treatment program and an Intensive Management Unit for inmates with particularly challenging behaviors. Each unit of the prison has a distinct mission.

Therein lies one of the biggest differences for Obenland from then and now. He must understand the operations, needs and challenges of each.

“For me, it is certainly a complex operation with a lot of moving parts,” he said. “And it is just big. It is going to take me a little while to figure out.

“When I was a corrections officer, it was just my narrow view of what was in front of me,” he said. “Over the years, 97 out of 100 guys are going to be going home. My philosophy now is to try to get them some skills when they go home so they can be productive members of society. I know we can’t help those who don’t want to help themselves, but for the ones that do, we should give them the opportunities to make those changes.”

These days, Obenland is exploring his new digs, observing different programs aimed at improving the odds the inmates won’t re-offend on the outside. He’s also catching up with old colleagues, including corrections officers he once worked alongside.

Obenland started his career in 1989 as a correctional officer at the state prison in Clallam Bay. Since then, he has worked in Monroe, Coyote Ridge in Eastern Washington, and the Cedar Creek and Stafford Creek prisons in southwest Washington.

He returned to Clallam Bay as an associate superintendent before being promoted to superintendent there in 2013.

In Monroe, his annual salary is $107,460.

Obenland replaced Robert Herzog, who was promoted to a deputy director of prisons position at the state Department of Corrections headquarters.

Herzog was hired at Monroe in 2012, a year after corrections officer Jayme Biendl was strangled by an inmate in the prison chapel. Her attacker was convicted of aggravated murder in 2013. Byron Scherf, 56, a convicted rapist, is now on death row.

Bernie Warner, secretary of the state Department of Corrections, praised Herzog for his work after taking over in Monroe “in a difficult time.” Herzog replaced Scott Frakes in Monroe and again last month in Olympia. Frakes was named director of the Nebraska prison system earlier this year.

Warner said Obenland is a good fit in his new position.

“Monroe is kind of a complex facility so we just felt that Mike had the right experience to manage that operation,” he said.

Obenland is married and has two children. He and his wife enjoy camping and riding their Harley Davidson motorcycles.

His son is following in his footsteps as a corrections officer at the Olympic Corrections Center in Forks.

“I’m a very proud dad,” he said.

Obenland thought his son might try to become a Washington State Patrol trooper and was surprised he went into the corrections field.

He can relate to his son’s change of heart.

Obenland had planned to become a police officer and was part of a reserve program in Thurston County when he put in some volunteer hours at the county jail.

“I have been locked up pretty much since,” he said.

Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446; stevick@heraldnet.com.

Correction, April 27, 2015: Mike Obenland’s name was misspelled in an earlier version of this story.