Life as an Offender - Reception Center

The Washington Corrections Center, located in Shelton, is the Reception Center for all adult male offenders who are sent to prison, with the exception of those sentenced to the death penalty, who are sent directly to the Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla.

Female offenders are sent to the Reception Center at Washington Corrections Center for Women located in Gig Harbor.

What happens at the Reception Center?

Offenders arriving at the Reception Center are provided an orientation packet and are fingerprinted and photographed. They are then assigned to a unit. The Unit Sergeant provides a verbal overview of the unit’s rules and regulations.

Do offenders at the Reception Center have access to mail and telephones?

Offenders are allowed to place collect telephone calls by utilizing their Inmate Personal Identification Number (IPIN). Offenders are issued their IPIN within 72 hours of arrival at the Reception Center.

Offenders can correspond with family and friends while at the Reception Center and are encouraged to do so.

Correspondence to male offenders at the Reception Center should be addressed as follows:

Offender’s Name and DOC#
Washington Corrections Center – Reception Center
PO Box 900
Shelton, WA 98584

Correspondence to female offenders at the Reception Center should be addressed as follows:

Offender’s Name and DOC#
Washington Corrections Center for Women – Reception Unit
9601 Bujacich Road NW
Gig Harbor, WA 98335-8300

The telephone number of the Washington Corrections Center is (360) 426-4433. The telephone number of the Washington Corrections Center for Women is (253) 858-4200.

Are Reception Center offenders allowed to participate in the visit program?

Offenders housed at the Washington Corrections Center Reception Center are allowed to receive approved no-contact and contact visits unless they are “in transit” (awaiting transfer to another facility).

Offenders housed at the Washington Corrections Center for Women-Reception Unit are allowed to receive approved contact visits. In order to become an approved visitor, the offender must send you the Visitor Application form to be completed, returned, and approved before a visit can be scheduled. The offender is responsible to convey the status of the application to you.

Screening and Testing

The Initial Classification process takes approximately 28 days. During this time, the offender must comply with medical, mental health and dental examinations, orientation and educational assessments.

Centralia College provides educational assessment and screening services for Reception Center offenders. The process results in profiles indicating educational placement recommendations for each offender. This profile is used by receiving institutions to assign offenders to appropriate adult basic skills and /or vocational educational programs.

During the physical examination, offenders are screened for Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), Tuberculosis (TB), Hepatitis A, Tetanus, and any other contagious diseases.

To assist classification and mental health staff in making recommendations regarding custody, placement and programming, offenders are required to participate in an assessment process. The assessments are designed to obtain information and assess concerns in the areas of suicide, victimization, violence, psychiatric diagnosis, substance abuse, and educational needs.

How is it determined where offenders will be sent after reception?

Classification is the risk management tool by which offenders will be periodically assessed to monitor their progress, adjustment, behavior, and programming throughout their incarceration. The goal of the classification system is to place the offender in the least restrictive custody level designation while providing for the safety of the public, staff, and offenders.

An objective scoring system is used as a basis to evaluate offenders’ risks to the community, staff and other offenders, visitors and the orderly operation of the institution. It is designed to encourage offender participation in work, education, treatment, and vocational programming in a manner that results in movement to less restrictive custody. The system is designed to assist offenders in understanding how their conduct and program efforts affect their custody designation and facility placement assignment.

Offenders will be classified at one of the following custody levels and transferred to an appropriate facility:

Security Level 4 - Close (more supervision, less freedom of movement, limits on property and programs):

Security Level 3 - Medium and Minimum 3 (less supervision, more freedom of movement, more program opportunities):

Security Level 2 - Minimum 2 or Minimum “P” (within four years to release, can participate in community work programs):

Security Level 1 - Minimum 1 (partial confinement, supervised outings, average stay is four months):

  • Various work release facilities throughout the state.
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