Much work undone — No action on seven of 12 recommendations made by Senate investigation
OLYMPIA – A year after the Senate Law and Justice Committee completed an investigation of one of the worst cases of mismanagement in Washington state history, a Senate work session this week has called attention to the work that remains undone at the troubled state Department of Corrections.
Most recommendations made by the Senate Law and Justice Committee a year ago have not been implemented – and won’t be, unless lawmakers pass a Department of Corrections reform bill that hangs in the balance as the Washington Legislature prepares to end its 2017 session. Senate Bill 5952 and preceding versions of the measure have been passed by the Senate three times this year, but the House has failed to take a vote.
“We have received word from the governor’s office that it opposes our Department of Corrections reform bill,” said Sen. Mike Padden, R-Spokane Valley, chair of the Senate Law and Justice Committee. “The perplexing thing is that the letter we got from the governor’s office Monday referred to an early version of the bill, not the current one, and it makes an argument we know just isn’t true. Once the governor’s office reads the bill closely, I am sure it will recognize that most concerns have been addressed.
“We can’t sweep this under the rug. The bill is prompted by one of the worst cases of mismanagement the state has ever seen. When the matter became public last year, the governor promised to fix DOC and fix it right. But his office left the job to the Legislature when it did not advance a reform proposal of its own, and we have worked hard this session to craft a proposal that can win bipartisan support. The opposition from the governor’s staff is baffling, but I am sure Jay Inslee is interested in following through. It’s time for the governor to make a public statement of his support.”
The reform bill is a reaction to the early release of more than 3,000 violent and dangerous prisoners over a 13-year period. Many offenders went on to commit new crimes, and two deaths have been linked to felons who should have been behind bars. The problem was caused when DOC officials provided mistaken instructions to computer programmers, but the error was compounded when the agency was notified of the problem and delayed a software fix for three years. More than a third of the early releases occurred after the agency learned of the issue.
Testimony before the Senate Law and Justice Committee Tuesday revealed that seven of 12 recommendations made by the committee after an exhaustive investigation last year have not been implemented. Two of eight recommendations made by an investigation commissioned by the governor also have not been implemented. See scorecard below.
Some of the committee’s most important recommendations cannot be implemented without legislative action – including creation of an independent “ombuds” program to deal with complaints from inmates, families of crime victims and DOC employees. Other recommendations include better protections for whistleblowers, and a declaration in state law that public safety is the agency’s top priority. The governor’s investigators also recommended creation of an ombuds program, and the hiring of an additional computer programmer, neither of which have been done.
Most reforms recommended by the Senate committee are included in SB 5952. But an expected vote on the bill in the state House did not take place June 30, after the governor’s office convinced House leaders to kill the bill. Had the Legislature adjourned that night, the measure would be dead for the year. However, the Legislature remained in session to deal with a critical water-rights issue.
The letter received by Padden Monday from the governor’s office outlines technical objections to an earlier version of the bill, addressed by later revisions. It also objects to the fact that the new ombuds program would handle concerns raised by DOC employees, observing that state employees have other avenues for complaint.
“The objection is absurd,” Padden said. “One of the biggest issues we encountered during the course of our investigation was that state whistleblower programs do not operate effectively where DOC is concerned. The fact that no one used them to report the early-release scandal demonstrates they didn’t work. We have learned that other DOC employees have faced retaliation when they have gone through channels to report agency misconduct, and we need to send a clear message that this is not to be tolerated.
“This is a painful issue for all of us – for the governor’s staff, which is charged with monitoring the Department of Corrections, as well as for those of us in the Legislature. State agencies need to learn from their mistakes, and the Legislature should hold them to it. If we fail to act, we could find ourselves right back in the same boat, dealing with another tragic case of mismanagement. This is something on which we all should be able to agree – the Senate, the House and the governor.”
DOC scorecard: Here’s how reform recommendations have fared
Senate recommendations
Establish a Corrections ombuds office independent of DOC and the governor’s office.
Not accomplished.
Investigate the Advance Corrections/Strong-R project, the never-completed computer project that consumed agency resources while the software fix was delayed.
Accomplished.
Mandate that the governor put systems in place to directly monitor agency performance.
Not accomplished.
Clarify through policy how personal relationships within the executive branch should be managed to avoid conflicts of interest.
Not accomplished.
Simplify Washington’s sentencing code in a manner that does not reduce punishment or compromise public safety.
Not accomplished.
Review the staffing of the IT and records departments at DOC.
Accomplished.
Require a DOC-wide hand calculation in the event of any future computer error that results in early prisoner releases.
Accomplished.
Require a report to Legislature of IT maintenance backlogs and a plan to address and annual reports on progress.
Accomplished.
Enhance protections for DOC whistleblowers.
Not accomplished.
Review whether additional actions may be possible against former Corrections Secretary Bernie Warner.
Not accomplished.
Designate public safety as DOC’s highest priority, in state law.
Not accomplished.
Restructure information technology governance at DOC.
Accomplished.
Recommendations from governor’s investigators
All AG opinions to DOC should be subject to supervisory review and approval.
Accomplished.
The IT governance process should be restructured.
Accomplished.
DOC should appoint an outside monitor.
Accomplished.
DOC should adopt a policy requiring the hand calculation of release dates when problems are detected.
Accomplished.
DOC should adopt a policy requiring the immediate notification of the appropriate assistant secretaries of any system-wide error that affects the sentencing, release or supervision of offenders.
Accomplished.
A second programmer who is proficient on each component of OMNI should be available.
Not accomplished.
DOC management should emphasize to all employees that its core mission is public safety.
Accomplished.
DOC should create an ombuds position.
Not accomplished.