AG’s Office Admits Flawed Advice in Early Prison Releases

SEATTLE (AP) — The state Attorney General's Office says it erred in 2012 when a former state attorney told the Department of Corrections that a problem with the early release of prisoners didn't need to be addressed immediately.

A programming error led to the early release of up to 3,200 prisoners over a 13-year period because of miscalculated sentences. The agency was alerted to the issue in 2012, and at least two deaths have been tied to the early releases.

Ronda Larson, an assistant attorney general at the time, advised the DOC that it wasn't necessary to manually recalculate the sentences of other prisoners. She said waiting for a programming fix for other cases should be enough. The fix was delayed repeatedly for the next three years.

Attorney General Bob Ferguson, whose office released an internal report into the incident, says the "legal advice failed the people of Washington."