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News / Northwest

Prisons chief orders review of inmate sentences

By Associated Press
Published: August 11, 2016, 9:45am

OLYMPIA — The state Department of Corrections is conducting a review to determine whether offenders are serving the correct amount of prison time.

The Seattle Times reports the department’s acting secretary, Richard Morgan, called on staff in a memo updated this week to make sure sentencing information was accurate before prisoners are released.

Officials say Morgan’s directive doesn’t stem from any particular incident.

A DOC spokesman says staff will look over court documents to be clear on whether sentences are consecutive or concurrent.

The review comes after the DOC and Gov. Jay Inslee announced in December some offenders had been mistakenly released early between 2002 and 2015. Officials had also found an error on a sentencing form that improperly shortened the community supervision and treatment times for dozens of sex offenders.

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