Tag Archives: Department of Corrections

Padden: Bail reform needed now more than ever, following latest assault on state trooper

In June, the NW Community Bail Fund bailed out a violent offender who allegedly went on to shoot a Washington State Patrol trooper nine times. Sen. Mike Padden, the lead Republican on the Senate Law and Justice Committee, said that a bill he sponsored during the last legislative session would have made the assault on Washington State Patrol Trooper Raymond Seaburg less likely, and gone a long way toward keeping dangerous repeat offenders off the street.

“The public often seems surprised and perplexed when repeat offenders are released on bail. They wonder where the criminal gets the funds and how a judge could reasonably grant bail,” explained Padden, R-Spokane Valley. “Social justice bail funds often bail criminals out without conducting a viable risk assessment, which is critical to protecting the public from potential offenders with a track record of violence.”

Jason Posada, the alleged suspect in the shooting of Trooper Seaburg, had eight previous felony convictions before being bailed out on a $10,000 bond by the NW Community Bail Fund. Padden’s measure, Senate Bill 5116, would have created more oversight of so-called charitable bail funds.

“Unfortunately, the Democrat majority failed to take action on my bill,” said Padden, who pointed out that a number of Democrat bills that did receive hearings this session focused on expanding rights and privileges for those who commit crimes, at the expense of victims and public safety. “As more and more violent offenders are bailed out and then reoffend, it is becoming clearer than ever that something must be done to address bail reform. This most recent case is a tragic and sad reminder that bail reform is vital to creating a safer Washington.”

Padden says the Washingtonians are plagued by an increase in violent crime – from murders and aggravated assaults to domestic violence. According to an analysis of crime data by the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs, the number of violent incidents toward officers and deputies has risen 20% since last year, at 2,375 assaults. At the same time, the Department of Corrections’ inmate population has declined from 17,000 before COVID to approximately 12,000 current inmates.

“There are now more criminals on the street than ever in recent history, and irresponsible bail funds are exacerbating the problem and decreasing public safety in the name of social justice,” Padden said. “This is only adding to the current crisis with public defense and prosecutor staffing shortages. Bad policy and a lack of resources are resulting in improper bail determinations, with judges not having the risk assessment tools they need to determine the right dollar amount for cash bail. When you add to that unchecked social activists providing bail funds for potentially dangerous offenders without any concern for public safety, it’s a recipe for disaster.”

Padden opposes bill authorizing state agency to distribute, sell abortion-causing pills

Sen. Mike Padden today stood up in support of life and against the majority Democrats’ passage of a Senate bill that would further advance Gov. Jay Inslee’s extreme pro-abortion agenda in Washington.

Senate Bill 5768 passed along party lines, 28-18. It would authorize the state Department of Corrections to distribute or sell the abortion-causing drug mifepristone to licensed health-care providers in Washington. The bill puts the legislative branch of state government in the position of granting its permission after the fact, as the executive branch of government has already purchased what is described as a three-year supply of the chemical.

“I can’t support any bill that makes abortions easier in our state,” said Padden, R-Spokane Valley. “Unborn children need to be considered in this issue. Public money, which is provided by many taxpayers across the state who oppose abortion, should not be spent to stockpile an abortion drug that eventually might be banned by the U.S. Supreme Court if and when that court hears a case over mifepristone. This bill helps realize Governor Inslee’s terrible goal to make Washington an abortion-destination state.”

During debate on SB 5768, six floor amendments introduced by Senate Republicans were all defeated along party lines. Under Padden’s amendment, if the federal Food and Drug Administration rescinds approval for mifepristone, health-care providers would have been required to obtain informed consent informing patients of the drug’s side effects, including heavy bleeding, hemorrhaging, cramping, infection, sepsis “and other severe outcomes.”

“No matter what side of the issue you are on, we should all be concerned about the safety of patients who take this drug,” said Padden in explaining his amendment. “We need to do that in this case. The side effects of this drug are significant. If mifepristone winds up not being approved by the FDA, we need to make sure that patients are told of this drug’s side effects.”

Another Republican amendment, introduced by 18th District Sen. Ann Rivers, would have prohibited DOC from purchasing additional abortion medications without express legislative authority and an appropriation in the state operating budget.

SB 5768 now goes to the House of Representatives for consideration.

According to a KOMO News story, medical abortions count for more than half of all abortions in the U.S. and nearly 60% of abortions in Washington.

Padden criticized Senate Democrats for not scheduling the bill for a public hearing in the Senate Health and Long Term Care Committee, of which he is a member.

“Instead of holding a public hearing on this bill in a policy committee, which would have been the appropriate step to take, the Senate majority chose to fast-track it by running it through the Ways and Means Committee,” added Padden.

Inslee recently announced that DOC, under his orders, purchased a three-year supply (30,000 doses) of mifepristone. Inslee also revealed that the University of Washington provided an additional 10,000 pills of this abortion-causing drug, bringing the state’s supply to 40,000 pills. Inslee said it cost the state $1,275,000 to buy the 30,000 pills. The pills were purchased with money appropriated to DOC in the 2021-23 operating budget.

“I’m very disappointed that the governor has spent well over a million tax dollars to buy such a large supply of abortion-causing drugs as part of his grand plan to make Washington a destination state for women from other states to come here to receive an abortion,”
said Padden. “What about the unborn child?”

The 2023 legislative session is scheduled to end April 23.

 

Governor signs Padden bill raising penalties for sexually abusive jail guards

Note: The following e-newsletter was sent to Sen. Padden’s subscribers March 30, 2023. To subscribe to Sen. Padden’s newsletter, click here.

Dear friends and neighbors,

I am pleased that my public safety bill that imposes longer sentences on sexually abusive jail and prison guards was signed today by Governor Inslee after being unanimously approved by both the Senate and House this session.

The law created by Senate Bill 5033 reclassifies the crime of first-degree custodial sexual misconduct (in which the corrections officer has sexually assaulted the victim), now a Class C felony, to a Class B felony with a seriousness level of VII. That calls for an initial sentence of 15 to 20 months and a high-end sentence between 7.25 years and 9.6 years. The new law, which will take effect in late July, also reclassifies second-degree custodial sexual misconduct (in which the corrections officer has sexual contact with the victim) from a gross misdemeanor to a Class C felony with a seriousness level of V, which would bring a sentencing range of six to 12 months for those with the lowest offender score and a range of six to eight years for offenders with the highest offender score. The grid is based on the criminal history and the serious level of the crime.

Senator Padden and others join Governor Inslee as he signs Senate Bill 5033 today.

Officers who work in jails and state correctional facilities are part of the law-enforcement community just as much as the officers who patrol our communities and investigate crimes. Like all the people we entrust to administer justice, corrections officers must be held to a high standard, especially considering the unique level of authority they have over people in custody.

SB 5033 was inspired by a KING-TV investigation about a Clallam County jail guard, John Gray, who served just over a year in prison after sexually assaulting four women.

When the bill was being considered by the Senate Law and Justice Committee early this session, it was named “Kimberly Bender’s law,” in honor of the 23-year-old Quileute woman who died by suicide in her Forks jail cell in 2019 after reporting to city officials that Gray sexually harassed her. Bender’s mother, Dawn Reid, asked me to name the bill after her daughter.

Gray was convicted in 2021 of two felony and two misdemeanor counts of custodial sexual misconduct and served 13 months of his 20-month sentence.

This newsletter covers several other issues and events happening in Olympia in this past week.

If you have questions about how to participate in state government this year or thoughts to share on anything in this e-newsletter, please give me a call or send me an email.

Thank you, as always, for the honor of serving as your state senator!

Best Regards,

Senator Mike Padden

Senate passes flawed operating budget

Another key point of this year’s legislative session was reached when the Senate yesterday voted 40-9 to pass its new state operating budget for the upcoming 2023-25 biennium, which begins July 1.

While the Senate’s spending plan has some positive qualities, including funding to combat drunk driving and funding for two of my bills – Senate Bill 5218 and Senate Bill 5096 – I voted “no” on the budget for a number of reasons. Here are three important ones.

The first is because this budget provides $15 million over the next two years for abortion care, including more than $730,000 for “outreach, patient navigation, and staffing” at the Department of Health. This large amount of money is for the governor’s program to bring women to Washington from states that have abortion restrictions. It is incredibly wrong to use taxpayer dollars to make Washington an “abortion destination state.”

One of the lower Snake River dams in southeastern Washington.

Second, the Senate operating budget includes $500,000 in one-time funding for yet another study involving the four lower Snake River dams. This study, to be conducted by the state Department of Ecology, would look at the actions needed to “continue water use for irrigation during drawdown related to potential lower Snake River dam removal and thereafter of a natural flowing river.” These duplicative studies are a waste of taxpayer dollars. I share the strong belief of many eastern Washington legislators and eastern Washington’s congressional delegation that the four Snake River dams in our state should not be breached.

My third reason for opposing this budget is because it does not provide property-tax relief. Many Washingtonians are being taxed out of their homes, and some property tax relief, which the state can afford, would greatly help many homeowners. When Sen. Lynda Wilson, the ranking Republican on the Senate Ways and Means Committee, unveiled her Republican budget proposal two years ago, her plan included property-tax relief. It’s unfortunate this year’s Senate budget won’t provide it.

More information about the Senate operating budget, Senate Bill 5187.

House Democrats released their own operating budget plan on Monday. The House is expected to vote on its own two-year spending plan sometime next week.

Despite Republican opposition, Senate committee passes bills that would weaken Second Amendment rights

This legislative session, a few Democrat-sponsored bills aiming to erode Second Amendment rights have made their way through the Legislature. On Tuesday, the Senate Law and Justice Committee passed two of these measures, despite strong opposition by my Republican colleagues and myself.

One of the proposals, House Bill 1240, would ban the sale or purchase in our state of modern sporting rifles, or “assault weapons,” as Democrats prefer to call them. The measure was passed along party lines. Before that vote was taken, other Republicans and I offered 17 amendments to improve the bill or limit its negative impact, but all were defeated. Like many others, I oppose this bill because it would ban the purchase of some of the most commonly owned and lawfully possessed sporting firearms, including some shotguns and pistols. Many people possess semiautomatic firearms for self-defense, and certainly for hunting. If it becomes law, this proposal will be challenged in court and likely will be ruled unconstitutional.

The other gun measure passed by the committee’s Democratic majority is House Bill 1143, which would prohibit an individual from buying a firearm from a dealer until the buyer has passed a background check and has completed a firearm-safety training program. As opponents argued during testimony before the committee, this bill would restrict access to firearms and won’t address the root causes of crimes committed by individuals with a firearm. It infringes on the rights of Washingtonians to own a firearm. My Republican colleagues and I offered six amendments, but all were rejected.

When the two bills received public hearings in the Law and Justice Committee, a large number of people testified against them, with 37 speaking against HB 1143 and 107 against HB 1240. Both bills likely are now headed to the floor for a full Senate vote.

DUI ‘lookback’ proposal still moving, as part of other drunk-driving proposal

Earlier this session, the Senate voted 48-1 to pass Senate Bill 5032, my proposal to help combat drunk driving.

SB 5032 would expand the period for reviewing prior convictions of impaired driving to 15 years, from the 10 years now in state law, when determining whether a new offense of impaired driving is charged as a felony. Under the proposal, any person who has three or more prior DUI offenses within that 15-year lookback period would face a felony, rather than the current penalty of a gross misdemeanor. Furthermore, SB 5032 would give offenders a chance to undergo a highly structured treatment program.

Our state has seen too many accidents and fatalities caused by drunk and drug-impaired drivers, especially repeat offenders. This bill could help reduce traffic deaths.

While it would have been preferable to pass SB 5032 as a stand-alone measure, I’m pleased that it is continuing to move forward this year as part of another proposal to combat drunk driving.

The Senate Law and Justice Committee recently passed House Bill 1493, which would make several changes to the state’s impaired-driving laws. Before doing so, the committee incorporated the SB 5032 language. The good policy in SB 5032 remains alive as part of HB 1493.

Concerns over land-use bill in Senate

One of the many House bills still being considered by the Senate this session is House Bill 1110, which would require certain cities planning under the state’s Growth Management Act to authorize minimum development densities on lots zoned predominately for residential use.

If HB 1110 reaches the Senate floor, I will vote against it. There are a few reasons why I have concerns with this bill. This is an issue that should be addressed by locals, not the state. This legislation takes away local control on land-use decisions from the cities of Spokane Valley, Liberty Lake and Millwood. It gives the decision-making power to Olympia. The folks in Olympia are not elected and do not have the same values as 4th Legislative District citizens.

The proposal was passed last week by the Senate Housing Committee and is scheduled to receive a public hearing tomorrow in the Senate Ways and Means Committee.

Ridgeline students visit Olympia

On Monday, I enjoyed meeting with members of Ridgeline High School’s Robotics Club during their visit to the Capitol. They were a bright group of students who have promising futures ahead of them.

Contact us!

If you have a question or concern about state government, please do not hesitate to contact our office. During the session we are conducting business from our Senate office in Olympia. We are here to serve you!

Phone: (360) 786-7606

Olympia Office: 215 Legislative Modular Building, Olympia, WA 98504-0404

Email address: Mike.Padden@leg.wa.gov

PLEASE NOTE: Any email or documents you provide to this office may be subject to disclosure under RCW 42.56. If you would prefer to communicate by phone, please contact Sen. Padden’s Olympia office at (360) 786-7606.

To request public records from Sen. Padden, please contact Randi Stratton, the designated public records officer for the Secretary of the Senate and Senate members.

Committee backs bills to hold felons, corrections officers accountable

Note: The following e-newsletter was sent to Sen. Padden’s subscribers Feb. 3, 2023. To subscribe to Sen. Padden’s newsletter, click here.

Dear friends and neighbors,

Officers who work in Washington’s correctional facilities are part of the law-enforcement community just as much as the officers who patrol our communities and investigate crimes. Like all the other people we entrust to administer justice, corrections officers must be held to a high standard, especially considering the unique level of authority they have over people in custody.

The crime of first-degree custodial sexual misconduct is already a Class C felony, but that unfortunately does not seem to be having the appropriate deterrent effect. I introduced Senate Bill 5033 to reclassify this crime as a Class B felony, which would allow a prison term of 10 years instead of the current five-year maximum.

The Law and Justice Committee heard testimony about the bill on Monday, as reported by KING-TV in Seattle (click here to view the report). The committee unanimously passed SB 5033 yesterday. I expect it will be sent to the Senate Rules Committee, which acts as a final gatekeeper before bills that have been passed by other Senate committees can reach the Senate floor.

If you have questions about how to participate in state government this year or thoughts to share on anything in this e-newsletter, please give me a call or send me an email.

Thank you, as always, for the honor of serving as your state senator!

Best Regards,

Senator Mike Padden

Panel hears bill requiring pursuit of community-custody violators

One of the problems with Washington’s criminal-justice system is the state Department of Corrections’ failure to prioritize the pursuit of felons who have violated terms of their community supervision, which leaves them free to commit more crimes.

Senate Bill 5226 aims to address that problem. It would require the Department of Corrections to prioritize staffing to pursue active warrants for community-custody violators. In doing so, my bill tries to refocus the agency on its highest duty, which is public safety – because that duty is not being carried out if arrest warrants are going unserved.

This proposal resulted from a 2016 Senate investigation into the premature release of about 3,000 prisoners from the Department of Corrections. Information related to that investigation can be viewed here.

Offenders who have warrants out on them are more prone than others to reoffend. By serving these warrants, we can see some positive changes, including the possibility that these people will not reoffend.

Spokane County Prosecuting Attorney Larry Haskell, Spokane County Sheriff John Nowels and Spokane Police Chief Craig Meidl testified remotely from Spokane in favor of the proposal. Their willingness to offer support is greatly appreciated; that testimony can be seen here.

DUI ‘lookback’ bill clears
second committee hurdle

The Senate’s 12 policy committees have until Feb. 17, or a little more than two weeks from now, to act on Senate bills. When a bill passed by a policy committee has a budget component, it almost always goes before a fiscal committee as well. That means more work for the Senate’s two fiscal committees, which is why they are given an additional week to decide which bills move ahead.

My Senate Bill 5032, known at the Capitol as the DUI “lookback” bill, received the Senate Transportation Committee’s endorsement on Monday. It aims to reduce impaired driving in Washington, and had already been approved at the policy level, by the Senate Law and Justice Committee.

The Senate’s 12 policy committees have until Feb. 17, or a little more than two weeks from now, to act on Senate bills. When a bill passed by a policy committee has a budget component, it almost always goes before a fiscal committee as well. That means more work for the Senate’s two fiscal committees, which is why they are given an additional week to decide which bills move ahead.

My Senate Bill 5032, known at the Capitol as the DUI “lookback” bill, received the Senate Transportation Committee’s endorsement on Monday. It aims to reduce impaired driving in Washington, and had already been approved at the policy level, by the Senate Law and Justice Committee.

SB 5032 would expand the period for reviewing prior convictions of impaired driving to 15 years, from the 10 years now in state law, when determining whether a new offense of impaired driving is charged as a felony. The proposal would increase the penalty from a gross misdemeanor to a felony offense for any person who has three or more prior DUI offenses within that “lookback” period.

Transportation is a fiscal committee, and ordinarily a bill that has received fiscal-committee approval proceeds directly to the Senate Rules Committee. For some reason – perhaps because it would increase the prison population, which costs money – SB 5032 is instead headed for Ways and Means, the Senate’s other budget committee. Considering half of the sponsors of this bill are also members of Ways and Means, this added stop should not be a roadblock.

Other bills still moving:

  • Senate Bill 5218, which would provide tax relief to people who require specialized, medically prescribed equipment such as custom wheelchairs — “complex rehabilitation technology products,” as the legislation puts it. SB 5218 is scheduled for a public hearing Feb. 7 before the Senate Ways and Means Committee, after receiving approval from the Senate Health and Long Term Care Committee.
  • Senate Bill 5096, which would aid businesses looking to adopt an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP), is also before the Senate Ways and Means Committee after being passed last week by the Business, Financial Services, Gaming and Trade Committee. Ways and Means has through Feb. 24 to take action.

Washington has a shortage of homes that people can afford to buy – especially those looking for their first home – and the staggering cost of regulations is a big reason why. The Building Industry Association of Washington recently compiled the latest numbers showing how the cost of a home is inflated by a variety of government-controlled factors. I am a co-sponsor of Senate Bill 5027, to promote housing affordability and home construction; it has received a public hearing before the Senate Housing Committee, a new panel for 2023.

West Valley student
serves as Senate page

It is a joy to see young people from across our state come to the Capitol to serve as pages for the Legislature. This week I had the honor of sponsoring Hadassah Duff as a Senate page. She is the 15-year-old daughter of Jaime Colds-Duff and Rocky Duff of Spokane, and a sophomore at West Valley High School. Hadassah is involved in cross country and track, National Honors Society, and is the president of her school’s HOSA (Health Occupation Students of America) club. 

Celebrating and honoring
Americans of Chinese Descent

Those of us serving in the Legislature know January as the month that our annual sessions begin, as specified in Washington’s constitution. If Senate Bill 5000 becomes law, January will also become “Americans of Chinese Descent Month” in our state.

The Senate passed SB 5000 unanimously this week, with the prime sponsor – Sen. Keith Wagoner, R-Sedro-Woolley – noting how the designation is a perfect fit for Washington, as Americans of Chinese descent make up the largest percentage of Asian-Americans in our state.

This bill also would encourage public schools to remember and honor the many contributions and achievements made by the Chinese-American community, and designate time for appropriate activities in commemoration of our state’s complicated history with the Chinese community – “the good and the bad,” as Senator Wagoner put it.

There’s a heartwarming tie between this bill and our legislative district, as I noted when speaking in the Senate chamber prior to our vote (click here to view my remarks). In January, Central Valley High School student Lucy He received a legislative certificate of appreciation for winning the Chinese American History Month national essay contest, sponsored by Asians for Equality – a group that also testified in support of SB 5000 at the committee level.

The connection became deeper when Dr. John Parker, the Central Valley School District’s new superintendent, also spoke in favor of the legislation, with a compelling recollection of the three years he and his wife, Ashley, spent at Shanghai Community International School in Shanghai, China.

The Senate unanimously passed a version of this legislation in 2022, but it was not brought to a vote in the House. Hopefully SB 5000 will become law this year, so we can mark Americans of Chinese Descent Month in 2024; either way it was uplifting to hear senators offer their respect to those in the Chinese-American community before passing the bill.

Contact us!

If you have a question or concern about state government, please do not hesitate to contact our office. During the session we are conducting business from our Senate office in Olympia. We are here to serve you!

Phone: (360) 786-7606

Olympia Office: 215 Legislative Modular Building, Olympia, WA 98504-0404

Email address: Mike.Padden@leg.wa.gov

PLEASE NOTE: Any email or documents you provide to this office may be subject to disclosure under RCW 42.56. If you would prefer to communicate by phone, please contact Sen. Padden’s Olympia office at (360) 786-7606.

To request public records from Sen. Padden, please contact Randi Stratton, the designated public records officer for the Secretary of the Senate and Senate members.

Padden bill on pursuing active warrants for community-custody violators receives committee hearing

According to 4th Legislative District Sen. Mike Padden, one of the problems with Washington’s criminal-justice system is the state Department of Corrections’ failure to prioritize the pursuit of felons who have violated terms of their community supervision, which leaves them free to commit more crimes.

A bill introduced by Padden aims to address this problem.

Senate Bill 5226 would require the Department of Corrections to prioritize staffing to pursue active warrants for community-custody violators. It received a public hearing today in the Senate Human Services Committee.

Padden, the ranking Republican on the Senate Law and Justice Committee, told the Human Services Committee that the bill resulted from a 2016 Senate investigation into the premature release of about 3,000 prisoners from the Department of Corrections. Information related to that investigation can be viewed here.

“This bill tries to refocus the department on its basic mission – number one, public safety – and also to implement that by serving warrants,” said Padden, R-Spokane Valley.

Padden testified that DOC has many people on community custody who are not incarcerated, adding that oftentimes the warrants for the offenders are not pursued by Corrections.

“Those offenders who have warrants out on them are more prone than others to reoffend,” added Padden. “By serving these warrants, we can see some positive changes, including the possibility that these people will not reoffend.”

TVW’s coverage of Padden’s testimony on SB 5226 can be viewed here.

Spokane County Prosecuting Attorney Larry Haskell, Spokane County Sheriff John Nowles and Spokane Police Chief Craig Meidl testified remotely from Spokane in favor of the proposal. Their testimony can be seen here.

In September 2021, Padden and Republican Sens. Chris Gildon and Keith Wagoner released a follow-up report, “Prison Alarm Bells: Five Years of Failure at the Department of Corrections – and What Washington Can Do About It,” that called attention to the lessons not learned following what Padden considers the worst state-government management debacle in recent memory: the early release of some 3,000 convicts before their sentences expired. The report can be viewed here.

Alarm bells still ringing at Department of Corrections

More than five years ago I stood at a podium before a room full of reporters to announce the findings of a detailed Senate investigation into systematic failures at the Department of Corrections, and what could be done to fix them.

A lot can change in 5 years, but apparently not as much as we had hoped for at DOC. As if this year’s Democrat-approved new restrictions on law enforcement weren’t enough, a similarly partisan effort to empty prison cells and return convicted felons to the street is creating new public-safety risks across the state.

That’s the conclusion of a Senate report I, along with two of my Senate Republican colleagues, released last week about new challenges for the state Department of Corrections. The report, “Prison Alarm Bells: Five Years of Failure at the Department of Corrections – and What Washington Can Do About It,” calls attention to the lessons that clearly were not learned following the worst state-government management debacle in recent memory: the accidental release of some 3,000 convicts before their sentences expired.

Five years after that debacle, is the premature release of felons has become a matter of official state policy.

Click here to read the full Report from Olympia.

Senate Republicans offer comprehensive Corrections reforms, would increase safety and accountability

Forward-looking approach aims to head off problems before they occur

Ongoing problems at the scandal-plagued state Department of Corrections are prompting a trio of Senate Republicans to introduce a package of sweeping reforms to address what they call a costly and fatal record of mismanagement.

Sen. Mike Padden, R-Spokane Valley, said recent inmate deaths due to inadequate medical care demonstrate the agency’s problems are far from being solved. Padden led a comprehensive Senate investigation into management failures at the agency four years ago.

Padden said, “Corrections keeps saying, ‘trust us,’ and look what happens. It has gotten to the point that our Democratic colleagues are expressing interest in reform as well. The package we have introduced is the kind of comprehensive reform I think both parties can support. We shouldn’t just react to problems – we should keep them from occurring in the first place. We have seen the governor’s watered-down, no-accountability approach already, and it hasn’t done the job.”

The Department of Corrections suspended the medical director at the state prison in Monroe last year following an investigation that uncovered a pattern of inadequate care that may have contributed to at least three inmate deaths. A scathing report released last month about one inmate death indicates prison officials ignored his cancer diagnosis for 15 months and failed to provide treatment.

Senate Republicans are introducing four measures this year to address systemic management problems, encourage greater accountability, improve safety for inmates and corrections workers and support whistleblowers who identify problems at the agency.

Padden and Sen. Steve O’Ban, R-University Place, introduced their bills this week, joining Sen. Keith Wagoner of Sedro-Woolley, who filed two measures prior to Monday’s start of the 2020 legislative session.

Systemic DOC Reform

Senate Bill 6298, sponsored by Padden, would

  • explicitly establish that DOC’s central duty is the protection of public safety;
  • require performance audits of the agency’s information-technology and medical units;
  • mandate that DOC put a higher priority on re-imprisoning felons who have violated community-supervision requirements; and,
  • permit sentencing reviews when sentencing calculations are performed incorrectly.

“These reforms are way overdue,” Padden said. “We offered some of them in a comprehensive reform bill in 2017. Unfortunately, the governor’s office took offense, and the bill was blocked in the House. At this point I think all of us have to recognize something is haywire. I hope these recent deaths will help change the governor’s mind.”

In 2016, the Senate Law and Justice Committee, then chaired by Padden, conducted an exhaustive investigation of Corrections’ early release of some 3,000 prisoners convicted of violent and dangerous crimes. Those early inmate releases spanned a 13-year period, and they continued three years after DOC employees learned of the problem and attempted to flag it to the attention of their supervisors. At least two deaths and numerous other crimes were linked to inmates who should have been behind bars at the time.


Protecting Inmates and Corrections Officers

Wagoner’s SB 6063 directly tackles management problems in the agency’s medical unit. The bill would establish minimum qualifications for a prison medical director, set criteria for transferring a patient to a health care facility for medical assistance and standardize policies and procedures for offsite medical treatment.

Sen. Keith Wagoner, R-Sedro-Woolley, represents the 39th Legislative District, which includes the Monroe Correctional Complex.

“I represent all the people at Monroe – the inmates we are entrusted to care for during their incarceration, as well as the corrections officers who deserve a work environment that is as safe as possible,” Wagoner said.

“While accountability for this and other recent failures will undoubtedly be the highest concern for victims’ families, we also need to look forward and address the serious safety concerns for all involved. We also have a duty to ensure we provide medical care to inmates under the state’s watch.”

Wagoner’s other measure, SB 6064, would require DOC to install body scanner devices in prisons by July 1, 2024. Wagoner said he was inspired by a body-scanner pilot program that intercepted as much contraband in two months as in an entire year of pat-downs, strip searches and other traditional methods.

Increasing Accountability

Sen. Steve O’Ban, R-University Place, says listening to front-line employees is the key to fixing DOC.

O’Ban’s proposal, Senate Bill 6322, addresses failures of leadership and accountability within the agency’s upper management. The measure would give greater authority to the ombuds office created in the wake of the early-release scandal. The office, created with the governor’s support, was crippled by management structure and restrictions that prevented investigation into concerns raised by DOC staff, O’Ban said. The bill would remove the ombuds office from the governor’s office and allow it to operate independently, and would direct the state to staff it with an outside provider. Retaliatory measures against whistleblowers would be prohibited, including settlement agreements with whistleblowers that bar them from future employment with the state.

O’Ban said DOC’s front-line employees are among the most knowledgeable about management problems. During the Senate’s DOC investigation, many alerted lawmakers to agency waste, fraud, mismanagement and abuse.

“Recent disclosures of problems with DOC’s medical programs offer conclusive evidence the agency still hasn’t cleaned up its act,” O’Ban said. “Where there are problems, we want to know about them.”

O’Ban voiced optimism that the time is right for bipartisan action on the package of DOC reforms but noted that the Democrats who control both chambers of the Legislature may not yet be ready to hold a Democratic administration accountable.

“We have been fighting for vital reforms and accountability at DOC for nearly five years,” O’Ban said. “The package Republicans have introduced is the kind of comprehensive reform I hope Democrats will finally support.”