Straight Talk From DOC - May 10, 2007 Seattle P.I. Report

On May 10, 2007, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported on DOC plans to gradually increase the caseloads for nine King County Community Corrections Officers who supervise high-risk sex offenders. The article raised concerns that this decision could lead to decreased supervision of sex offenders and possibly to an increase in the number of new crimes committed by sex offenders in King County.

Public safety is always DOC’s first concern. The Department recently implemented new measures to ensure that offender behavior in the community is properly monitored and documented, and that offenders are held accountable for violations of the conditions of their community supervision.   

It is true that DOC plans a gradual increase in the number of cases supervised by Community Corrections Officers in the King County Sex Offender Unit.  Department managers reviewed existing unit caseloads and found that the average number of cases supervised by officers in the King County unit was significantly lower than the average in similar units across the state. 

DOC Sex Offender Unit Caseloads: 5/10/07

Unit Number of CCO’s Average Caseload
King County 8  (1 vacant) 23
Pierce County South 9 34
Pierce County North 8 38
Spokane 9 33
Vancouver 8  (1 vacant) 33
Longview 3 34
Yakima 2 37

Part of the reason the numbers in King County were lower is that the King County unit primarily supervised high-risk Level 3 sex offenders. However, DOC managers concluded that this difference did not fully account for the lower caseloads supervised by King County unit officers.

Approximately 750 Community Corrections Officers currently supervise approximately 27,000 offenders across the state. DOC focuses resources on offenders who pose the highest risk to re-offend. Not all sex offenders are high risk. An analysis of recidivism among sex offenders for the years 1991 through 2000 found that 14 percent of sex offenders sentenced to DOC custody had committed a new offense (although not necessarily a sex crime) within five years of release from prison.

Other categories of offenders who pose a high risk to reoffend include the dangerously mentally ill, gang members, career criminals and some who have committed domestic violence crimes. Such offenders often are supervised by Community Corrections Officers whose caseloads are higher than those in the King County Sex Offender Unit. The resources DOC receives to supervise these offenders are determined by the Office of Financial Management and the Legislature, utilizing a formula that takes into account the risk levels of all offenders.

Through its Re-entry Initiative, the Department of Corrections is working to reduce crime by implementing and expanding programs that are proven to reduce the likelihood offenders will commit new crimes.    

Because the King County Sex Offender Unit is expected to continue supervising a higher proportion of high-risk sex offenders than similar units across the state, the King County unit’s average caseloads will continue to be lower than those of similar DOC units. However, the Department believes a gradual increase in the number of offenders supervised by each Community Corrections Officer will not result in a deterioration of supervision or create new public safety concerns.

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