The Washington State Department of Corrections (WADOC) is a department of the government of the state of

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

. WADOC is responsible for administering adult

corrections In criminal justice, particularly in North America, correction, corrections, and correctional, are umbrella terms describing a variety of functions typically carried out by government agencies, and involving the punishment, treatment, a ...

programs operated by the State of Washington. This includes state correctional institutions and programs for people supervised in the community.About DOC
" Washington State Department of Corrections. Retrieved on March 3, 2011. Its headquarters are in

Tumwater, Washington Tumwater is a town in Thurston County, Washington, United States. The population was 25,350 at the 2020 census. It is situated near where the Deschutes River enters Budd Inlet, the southernmost point of Puget Sound; it also borders the state ca ...

History

The modern Washington Department of Corrections is a relatively young state agency. Agency oversight of correctional institutions in Washington State went through several transitions during the 20th century before the WADOC's creation in 1981. Prior to the 1970s, state correctional facilities were managed by the Washington Department of Institutions. governor

Daniel J. Evans Daniel Jackson Evans (born October 16, 1925) is an American politician who served as the 16th governor of Washington from 1965 to 1977, and as United States senator representing Washington State from 1983 to 1989.Washington State Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) in the 1970s.The Arc: WA State
Retrieved on September 25, 2016. On July 1, 1981, the Washington State Legislature transferred the administration of adult correctional institutions from the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services, Division of Adult Corrections (DSHS) to the newly created Washington State Department of Corrections as part of the 1981 Corrections Reform Act.Corrections Reform Act of 1981 c 136 § 3., RCW 72.09.030
Retrieved on September 25, 2016.

Organizational structure

The Washington Department of Corrections organizational structure includes six major divisions: * Women’s Prisons *Men’s Prisons *Community Corrections *Administrative Operations *Health Services *Reentry Each division has an assistant secretary who oversees the division's operations. The secretary of corrections is the executive head of the department. The secretary is appointed by the governor with the consent of the state Senate.

Department facilities

Prisons

The department currently operates 12 adult prisons, of which 10 are male institutions and two are female institutions.Prisons - Locations
" Washington State Department of Corrections. Retrieved on March 3, 2011. The department confines over 12,000 people in these facilities, with each varying in size and mission across the state.Learn More About Prisons
" Washington State Department of Corrections. Retrieved on March 3, 2011.

Work releases

The department currently has 12

work release In prison systems, work release programs allow a prisoner who is sufficiently trusted or can be sufficiently monitored to go outside the prison and work at a place of employment, returning to prison when their shift is complete. Some work release ...

facilities. All but two of these facilities are operated by contractors, who manage the daily safety and security and have oversight of the facilities full-time (24 hours a day, 7 days per week). Department staff are located on site to assist in supervision, monitoring, and case management of those under supervision, as well as monitoring of the contracts.Work Release - Locations
" Washington State Department of Corrections. Retrieved on March 3, 2011. Formerly incarcerated people housed in work release facilities have progressed from full confinement to partial confinement, and are required to seek, secure, and maintain employment in the community, as well as pay for their room and board. This model is designed to provide some foundation for employment and housing when the formerly incarcerated are released to communities. However, a 2015

Washington Supreme Court The Washington Supreme Court is the highest court in the judiciary of the U.S. state of Washington. The court is composed of a chief justice and eight associate justices. Members of the court are elected to six-year terms. Justices must retire ...

Minority and Justice Commission symposium revealed that reentry resources for formerly incarcerated people in Washington State are still severely underfunded and disconnected.REENTRY: DO WE REALLY CARE ABOUT PEOPLE SUCCEEDING AFTER PRISON? May 28, 2015.
Retrieved on September 25, 2016.

Field offices

Community Supervision occurs at 86 varied locations in the community to include: field offices, community justice centers,

Community Oriented Policing Community policing, or community-oriented policing (COP), is a strategy of policing that focuses on developing relationships with community members. It is a philosophy of full-service policing that is highly personal, where an officer patrols ...

(COP) Shops and outstations. Activities of supervised people in the community are monitored, which includes home visits, by a Community Corrections Officer to ensure compliance with court, or known as the Indeterminate Sentence Review Board, which was the Washington State Board of Prison Terms and Paroles (ISRB), only those individuals who have been deemed rehabilitated by the ISRB are placed on Parole and department conditions of supervision, such as Community Supervision and/or Community Custody.

Death row

In 2014, Governor

Jay Inslee Jay Robert Inslee (; born February 9, 1951) is an American politician, lawyer, and economist who has served as the 23rd List of governors of Washington, governor of Washington since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democ ...

announced a moratorium on carrying out the death penalty in Washington State.Gov. Jay Inslee announces capital punishment moratorium
Retrieved on September 25, 2016. According to Inslee, "Equal justice under the law is the state's primary responsibility. And in death penalty cases, I'm not convinced equal justice is being served. The use of the death penalty in this state is unequally applied, sometimes dependent on the budget of the county where the crime occurred." The moratorium means that if a death penalty case comes to the governor's desk for action, he will issue a reprieve. However, this action does not commute the sentences of those on death row or issue any pardons. The majority of Washington's death penalty sentences are overturned and those convicted of capital offenses are rarely executed, indicating questionable sentencing in many cases. Since 1981, the year Washington State's current capital laws were put in place, 32 defendants have been sentenced to die. Of those, 18 have had their sentences converted to life in prison and one was set free. Prior to Inslee's moratorium, Washington's capital punishment law required that capital punishment imposed by the state's courts be carried out at the

Washington State Penitentiary Washington State Penitentiary (also called the Walla Walla State Penitentiary) is a Washington State Department of Corrections men's prison located in Walla Walla, Washington. With an operating capacity of 2,200, it is the second largest pris ...

in Walla Walla. Procedures for conducting executions are supervised by the Penitentiary Superintendent.Capital Punishment in Washington State
" Washington State Department of Corrections. Retrieved on December 19, 2016. Washington utilizes two methods of execution:

lethal injection Lethal injection is the practice of injecting one or more drugs into a person (typically a barbiturate, paralytic, and potassium solution) for the express purpose of causing rapid death. The main application for this procedure is capital puni ...

and

hanging Hanging is the suspension of a person by a noose or ligature strangulation, ligature around the neck.Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed. Hanging as method of execution is unknown, as method of suicide from 1325. The ''Oxford English Dictionary' ...

. Lethal injection is used unless the inmate under sentence of death chooses hanging as the preferred execution method. Within 10 days of a trial court entering a judgment and sentence imposing the death penalty, male defendants under sentence of death are transferred to the Penitentiary, where they remain in a segregation unit ntensive Management Unit North (IMU-N) at the prisonpending appeals and until a death warrant is issued setting the date for the execution. Female defendants under sentence of death are housed at the

Washington Corrections Center for Women Washington Corrections Center for Women (WCCW, originally the Purdy Treatment Center) is a Washington State Department of Corrections women's prison located in Gig Harbor, Washington. With an operating capacity of 740, it is the largest women's ...

Gig Harbor Gig Harbor is the name of both a bay on Puget Sound and a city on its shore in Pierce County, Washington,. The population was 12,029 at the 2020 census. Gig Harbor is one of several cities and towns that claim to be "the gateway to the Olympi ...

before being transferred to the Penitentiary no later than 72 hours prior to a scheduled execution, also housed in IMU North, although the execution chamber is located in Unit 6. 78 persons have been executed in Washington since 1904, the most recent being Cal Coburn Brown, in 2010.

Correctional Industries

The Washington Department of Corrections revenue-generating, industry job training, and factory food production branch is Washington State Correctional Industries. It is a member of the National Correctional Industries Association. Correctional Industries began centralizing food production at the

Airway Heights Correctional Center The respiratory tract is the subdivision of the respiratory system involved with the process of respiration in mammal Mammals () are a group of vertebrate animals constituting the class Mammalia (), characterized by the presence of ...

in 1995.Washington Prison Food Factory Cooks Up Controversy
" Prison Legal News. Retrieved on September 23, 2016. In the years since, freshly cooked food for incarcerated people in Washington prisons has gradually and in large part been replaced by factory processed, prepackaged food.

Private contracts

Private prisons

On May 21, 2015, The GEO Group announced the signing of a contract with the Washington Department of Corrections for the out-of-state housing of up to 1,000 prisoners at the company-owned North Lake Correctional Facility in Baldwin, Michigan, with a contract term of five years inclusive of renewal option periods.

Food vendors

Under the Washington state Food Umbrella Contract, WA DOC's Correctional Industries procures products from Food Services of America, Liberty Distributing, Medosweet Farms, Spokane Produce, Terry Dairy's, Triple "B" Corporations, and Unisource. WA DOC also contracts with Evergreen Vending, Coca-Cola, and other private food vendors for its facility vending machines.

Communications

WA DOC contracts with JPay, a private company that charges the incarcerated and their families for electronic mail, photo-sharing, money transfer, and video visiting services. Phone services for the incarcerated and their families are through WA DOC's contract with

Global Tel Link Global Tel Link (GTL), formerly known as Global Telcoin, Inc. and Global Tel*Link Corporation, is a Reston, Virginia–based telecommunications company, founded in 1989, that provides Inmate Calling Service (ICS) through "integrated information ...

Secretary of Corrections

The secretary of corrections in Washington State is a cabinet level position appointed by the state governor. This position differs from the historical director of the Washington Department of Institutions in its educational requirements. In the 1950s and 1960s, Washington law mandated that directors of the Department of Institutions were required to hold graduate degrees."Conte, William R. ''Is Prison Reform Possible?: The Washington State Experience in the Sixties''. Unique Press, 1990." The modern Washington Department of Corrections has no such requirements for its secretary of corrections.

Amos Reed

Amos Reed, appointed by Governor

John Spellman John Dennis Spellman (December 29, 1926 – January 16, 2018) was an American politician who served as the 18th governor of Washington from 1981 to 1985 and as the first King County Executive from 1969 to 1981. Spellman was elected governor in ...

, served as the first Washington state secretary of corrections from 1981 to 1986. Prior to his position as secretary, Reed served as an administrator in the

Oregon Department of Corrections The Oregon Department of Corrections is the agency of the U.S. state of Oregon charged with managing a system of 12 state prisons since its creation by the state legislature in 1987. In addition to having custody of offenders sentenced to prison ...

from 1969 to 1975.

Chase Riveland

Chase Riveland was appointed Secretary of Corrections by Governor

Booth Gardner William Booth Gardner (August 21, 1936 – March 15, 2013) was an American politician who served as the 19th governor of Washington from 1985 to 1993. He also served as the ambassador of the GATT. A member of the Democratic Party, Gardner previ ...

in 1986."Locke Picks New Prisons Chief." Kitsap Sun 27 Feb. 1997: n. pag. Print. He retired in 1997. Riveland drew criticism from Republican lawmakers who felt he was not harsh enough on incarcerated people. However, his cautions against politically-driven policies have proven prescient in the mass incarceration decades that followed his time as secretary.Conversation with Chase Riveland, Head of Washington Corrections when the tough-on-crime wave hit. ''Washblog''
Retrieved on September 24, 2016. By 2008, the number of people incarcerated in Washington had more than tripled since the time Riveland first came to WADOC.

Joseph D. Lehman

Joe Lehman was a graduate of St. Martin's College and Pacific Lutheran University. He spent 21 years as a probation and parole officer and deputy secretary in Washington's prison system. Lehman was appointed secretary of Corrections by Governor

Gary Locke Gary Faye Locke (born January 21, 1950) is an American politician and diplomat serving as the interim president of Bellevue College, the largest of the institutions that make up the Washington Community and Technical Colleges system. Locke se ...

in 1997, and served until 2005. Prior to serving as WADOC secretary, Lehman oversaw Pennsylvania's largest prison expansion in state history and then worked for the Maine correctional system. In 1994, Lehman won the Association of State Correctional Administrators Francke Award. Lehman's starting salary as WADOC secretary was $93,659 He oversaw WADOC at a time when the department had a budget of $765 million, with 12,825 incarcerated people and 6,300 employees]

Harold Clarke

Harold Clarke, appointed by Governor

Christine Gregoire Christine Gregoire (; née O'Grady; born March 24, 1947) is an American politician who served as the 22nd governor of Washington from 2005 to 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, she defeated Republican candidate Dino Rossi in 2004, and aga ...

, served as Secretary of Corrections from 2005 until his resignation in late 2007. Prior to his appointment, he directed the Nebraska Department of Corrections, where he had climbed through the ranks for over twenty years. He resigned as WADOC secretary amid controversy over probation supervision to take a position as commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Corrections.

Eldon Vail

Eldon Vail returned from retirement after 31 years with WADOC to serve as Acting Secretary of Corrections until his formal appointment as Secretary by Governor

in 2008. Vail resigned amid controversy over an affair with a subordinate in 2011.

Bernard Warner

Bernard Warner was appointed by Governor

as Secretary of Corrections in 2011. Warner resigned in 2015 to take a position at a private Salt Lake City corrections industry.

Dan Pacholke

Governor

appointed Dan Pacholke Secretary of Corrections in 2015. Pacholke began his career in WADOC in 1982 as a correctional officer at McNeil Island Corrections Center. He worked his way through the ranks until he was appointed secretary. Pacholke resigned after a short tenure amid controversy over a WADOC computer glitch that caused the somewhat early release of approximately 3,000 incarcerated people over more than a decade. Some formerly incarcerated people who had established new lives upon early release were reincarcerated in response to public and political outcry over the early releases. The early release scandal became an expression of more complex political relationships in anticipation of the 2016 Washington State election season. In a resignation email to Senator Mike Padden—one of the most conservative members of the Washington State Senate's Law and Justice Committee—Pacholke wrote, "I notify you now of my resignation. I hope it helps meet your need for blood. I hope it gives you fodder for the press and fulfills your political needs so you can let this agency, our agency, heal."Email from Dan Pacholke to Senator Mike Padden 2016
. Retrieved September 25, 2016. Former secretary of corrections Bernie Warner told the media he did not know about the computer glitch until notified by Governor

's general counsel.Sullivan, Joseph. "Former Corrections boss says he didn’t know of early prisoner releases". ''Seattle Times''. January 15, 2016
Retrieved on September 25, 2016. However, Pacholke told the media that Warner's assistant secretary knew of the mistaken early release of prisoners as early as 2012. At least two people were killed in homicides linked to prisoners who had mistakenly been released early, and families of the deceased in each of those cases went on to file wrongful death lawsuits against the agency. One of those lawsuits resulted in a $3.25 million settlement paid out by the DOC. Since leaving WADOC, Pacholke has become the co-director at Segregation Solutions.
Retrieved on September 25, 2016. He co-authored a report with Sandy Felkey Mullins on segregation practices for the U.S. Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Assistance titled "More Than Emptying Beds: A Systems Approach to Segregation Reform"."More Than Emptying Beds: A Systems Approach to Segregation Reform".
" Retrieved on September 24, 2016.

Richard Morgan

Richard "Dick" Morgan returned from retirement after more than three decades of employment with WA DOC to be appointed by Governor

as acting secretary, effective March 14, 2016. He served in the role of secretary until January 12, 2017. Morgan had previously served as a member of the Indeterminate Sentence Review Board and of the Washington Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty.

Jody Becker-Green

Former Washington State Department of Social and Health Services employee Jody Becker-Green was appointed by Governor

as acting secretary from January 10, 2017 to April 25, 2017, becoming the first woman to serve in this role.

Stephen Sinclair

Stephen Sinclair was appointed WA DOC secretary by Governor

on April 25, 2017. He began his career at the agency as a correctional officer and gained progressively greater responsibilities as investigator, sergeant, associate superintendent, superintendent and assistant secretary. As superintendent of the Washington State Penitentiary, Sinclair created the Sustainable Practices Lab. In addition to his role as secretary, he was the DOC co-director of the Sustainability in Prisons Project at

The Evergreen State College The Evergreen State College is a public liberal arts college in Olympia, Washington. Founded in 1967, it offers a non-traditional undergraduate curriculum in which students have the option to design their own study towards a degree or follow a p ...

Cheryl Strange

On April 29, 2021, Washington State Governor

appointed Cheryl Strange as the Washington DOC's first permanent female secretary.Inslee names Cheryl Strange new Department of Corrections secretary
April 29, 2021. Accessed April 21, 2022. Prior to her appointment, Strange was Secretary of the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services. She had previously served as the

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especiall ...

of Western State Hospital.

Staff

Paramilitary culture

WADOC is a paramilitary organization and values respect for chain of command and seniority. The department recruits much of its correctional staff from

Joint Base Lewis–McChord Joint Base Lewis–McChord (JBLM) is a U.S. military installation home to I Corps and 62nd Airlift Wing located south-southwest of Tacoma, Washington under the jurisdiction of the United States Army Joint Base Headquarters, Joint Base Lewis–M ...

career fairs.2015 Washington State Transition Fair.
Retrieved on September 24, 2016.

Labor union

Non-management positions in the Washington Department of Corrections are negotiated by the

Teamsters The International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT), also known as the Teamsters Union, is a labor union in the United States and Canada. Formed in 1903 by the merger of The Team Drivers International Union and The Teamsters National Union, the u ...

Local 117 Local may refer to: Geography and transportation * Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand * Local, Missouri, a community in the United States * Local government, a form of public administration, usually the lowest tier of administ ...

labor union.

Honor guard

WADOC Honor Guard protocols are governed by WADOC Policy 870.440.Dress Uniform and Honor Guard.
" Retrieved on September 24, 2016. Individual WADOC correctional facilities are not required to maintain an Honor Guard. As of 2013, only five of WADOC's 12 facilities maintained an active Honor Guard. Facility superintendents and Chiefs of Emergency Operation are responsible for selecting Honor Guard members and approving Honor Guard participation in local events.

Line of duty deaths

According to the

Officer Down Memorial Page The Officer Down Memorial Page, Inc. (ODMP) is a non-profit organization that maintains a website listing American law enforcement officers, prison officers and police dogs who have died in the line of duty. History The ODMP was established i ...

Web site, since the inception of what is currently the Washington State Department of Corrections, six employees have been killed in the line of duty. The most well-known line of duty death in recent WADOC history was that of

Jayme Biendl Jayme is a unisex given name and a surname which may refer to: Given name: * Jayme Alaric de Perpignan, ambassador from Pope Clement IV and James I of Aragon to the Mongol ruler Abaqa Khan in 1267 * Jayme de Almeida (born 1953), Brazilian footbal ...

in 2011. This incident has been called "the Washington Department of Corrections 9/11", as it resulted in dramatic changes to WADOC security protocols and programs for incarcerated people. An annual Behind the Badge memorial run is held in honor of Biendl's service.

Key issues

In 2012, WADOC correctional officers advocated for improved uniforms in keeping with the standards of uniforms of other Washington law enforcement agencies."Corrections officers push lawmakers for better uniforms" ''Everett Herald''. February 13, 2012.
" Retrieved on September 24, 2016. Prior to 2012, correctional officer uniforms were made by incarcerated people in industry job positions. This provided 100 jobs for incarcerated people, as well as eight supervisory correctional officer positions. Officer Carl Beatty was a public spokesman for a shift to professional uniforms made by outside manufacturers with significant savings to the State of Washington in cost, with the result that House Bill 2346 passed during the 2012 Washington State Regular Legislative Session.HB 2346
" Retrieved on September 24, 2016. This bill removed the requirement that correctional officer uniforms come from Correctional Industries. WA DOC Policy 870.400 lists detailed requirements for staff uniforms.DOC 870.400
" Retrieved on September 24, 2016.

Ombudsman

In 2007, the Washington Religious Society of Friends (

Quakers Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abil ...

) spearheaded legislative efforts to create an independent ombudsman position that would provide an alternative avenue of mediation between WADOC, WADOC staff, incarcerated people, and family members of the incarcerated.SB 5295.
SB 5295." Retrieved on September 24, 2016. The resulting bill, SB 5295—sponsored by state Senators