Thousands of Washington state prisoners released early

SEATTLE, Dec. 23 (UPI) -- Washington Gov. Jay Inslee announced some 3,200 inmates -- or about 3 percent of the state's inmate population -- have been unintentionally released early in the past 13 years due to a computer error.

Some of those released early will be required to return to finish their sentences in prison or on work release. Others will be given credit for time in the community. The error began in 2002 after a state Supreme Court ruling the Department of Corrections apply "good time" credits in county jail to state prison sentences, Inslee said. The software is expected to be fixed by Jan. 7.

"These were serious errors with serious implications. When I learned of this I ordered DOC to fix this, fix it fast, and fix it right," he said.

According to information released by the governor's office, the Department of Corrections was alerted by a victim's family to the computation problem in December 2012. From 2012 to December 2015, "the coding fix was repeatedly delayed," the governor's office said.

The governor's office said the executive team was not notified of the problem until last week.

"I have a lot of questions about how and why this happened, and I understand that members of the public will have those same questions. I expect the external investigation will bring the transparency and accountability we need to make sure this issue is resolved," Inslee said.

The governor ordered the DOC to stop all releases of all offenders from prisons until their sentences are hand calculated. The state said the average number of days a prisoner was released early was 49 days.