Implementation Links

Legislative and Budget Implementation

The Department of Corrections is in the process of implementing one of the largest projected budget shortfalls in state history. Legislative and budget implementation teams comprised of agency leaders, subject matter experts and key stakeholders have been convened to analyze and put into operation the significant policy and program changes we are facing. We are required to reduce staffing and services, and find the efficiencies needed to manage the agency within our appropriated budget.

As we complete this work, we will strive to communicate with all of our stakeholders on a regular basis about our progress via the Web. We encourage you to visit the Legislative and Budget Implementation Web pages for answers to frequently asked questions, implementation team status updates, announcements, and information about the impact of our operational changes.

Legislative and Budget Implementation Teams

Frequently Asked Questions

How many staff members will be laid off?

We estimate we will reduce our staff by about 400 to 500 full time equivalents, but this depends on how soon the layoffs begin. The longer we wait to start, the more people will be laid off.

How many Correctional Officers will be laid off?

That will depend on the inmate population, which is projected by the Caseload Forecast Council to decline over the next two years. As the inmate population declines, we’ll consolidate inmates and close units. This fiscal year, the budget requires us to close two units.

How many Community Corrections Officers will be laid off?

We don’t know the exact number yet because we still need to screen the offender population to determine which offenders will no longer be under our jurisdiction.

What is the expected decline in the offender population?

New laws are expected to reduce the community corrections caseload by about 9,400 offenders as of August 1, 2009.

By June 30, 2010, we’re projected to have about 1,200 fewer offenders in Washington State prisons. Even before the last legislative session, the Caseload Forecast Council predicted a slowing in the increase of the prison population. New laws and sentencing options – including more community beds for Drug Offender Sentencing Alternatives – actually cause the prison population forecast to decline.

How many prisons will be closed?

Legislative action related to sentencing changes requires us to close two units this year but other drivers have caused us to plan to close a third and their might be more. The Legislature instructed the state Office of Financial Management to conduct a study that will analyze our prisons and determine the best way to reduce our prison capacity. That analysis will be completed this fall.

DOC just expanded capacity at Coyote Ridge Corrections Center and now it says it has to close prisons. Why is that?

Large-scale capital projects like the one at Coyote Ridge take years to plan develop and complete. At the time the project was conceived, the prison population was projected to continue to grow as it has for the past two decades. The current projections call for a reduction in the inmate population, and we must respond accordingly. There is still a need for the beds at Coyote Ridge, which will give the state the ability to house out-of-state offenders who will return to Washington during the next several months.

What happens to those offenders who will no longer be on community supervision?

We will mail the offenders a letter notifying them that they are no longer on supervision. We also will notify the respective courts that we no longer have jurisdiction over the offender.

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