OLYMPIA — Washington’s overcrowded prison system is expanding its use of out-of-state prisons for some of the overflow.

The Department of Corrections is sending another 240 inmates away to serve at least part of their sentence. That means nearly 1,300 inmates are housed out of state at for-profit facilities operated by Corrections Corporation of America in Arizona, Minnesota and Oklahoma.

The state also rents about 1,000 cells from counties in Washington.

The state has 18,500 inmates at 15 prisons.

The Legislature has approved prison construction that will create about 2,900 new beds between this November and June 2009.

The biggest increase will be 2,046 cells at Coyote Ridge near Connell in Eastern Washington. Construction will cost $247 million and annual operating cost will be $47 million. It’s expected to open by the end of next year. Construction also is planned or under way at Mission Creek, Walla Walla and Cedar Creek.

The transfer program typically sends well-behaved and nonviolent inmates out of state — which inmates and their families call an odd way to reward good behavior. Families say it’s inconvenient and expensive to have to travel to Arizona or elsewhere to visit their loved ones.

“Something needs to be done about shipping inmates with close family ties out of state,” said Rick Stoddard, 64, Chehalis, whose son narrowly avoided being sent to Arizona. “That needs to be stopped.”

Nicole Brummitt of Renton told The News Tribune she and her 10-year-old son have to travel 1,500 miles to see the boy’s father at in Arizona, versus an easy drive to Aberdeen, where he was housed at Stafford Creek prison.