Software error led to early release of more than 3,000 inmates; there was no fix despite 2012 notice
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More than 3,000 inmates in Washington state have been released early since 2002 because computer software miscalculated good time credits, Gov. Jay Inslee announced at a news conference on Tuesday.
The problem was discovered in 2012 after a victim’s family questioned the release date of an inmate, but the software fix has not yet been made. Inslee said he didn’t learn of the problem until last week. The Associated Press, the Seattle Times and the Spokesman-Review have stories.
“That this problem was allowed to continue to exist for 13 years is deeply disappointing,” Inslee said. “It is totally unacceptable, and frankly it is maddening.”
On average, the prisoners were released 55 days early. Many will be allowed to stay out of prison based on precedent that allows inmates released early to get sentencing credit for the time spent outside if they do not break the law.
The problem began after the state supreme court ruled in 2002 that good time credit should be awarded for time inmates spend in county jails before being transferred to state prisons. The software change in response to that decision should have excluded good time credit for extra time spent in prison due to sentencing enhancements, as required by state law, but it did not.
The state has hired two former federal prosecutors to investigate who knew what and when, according to a corrections spokesman.
Lead paragraph corrected at 11:50 a.m. to state that the inmates were released early.
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