WA DOC Seeking More Control Over Out of State Felons
The head of the state prison system wants to make sure Washington has more control over which out-of-state felons are allowed into the state. Story from KOMO News.
On Thursday those in charge of interstate movement of felons gathered in Olympia to discuss possible changes.
State Department of Corrections Secretary Eldon Vail called for tighter oversight and more accountability in the wake of the killings of four Lakewood officers by Maurice Clemmons, a felon from Arkansas.
Clemmons, who served time in an Arkansas prison, was relocated to Washington under an interstate compact that allows felons from one state to be supervised by the corrections department in another.
“I think in honor of those folks who were tragically murdered, we’re looking for solutions to prevent the next Maurice Clemmons,” Vail said.
Washington corrections officers told the compact that they want more say over who comes here, as well as the ability to return them to their home state.
“We might, in some cases, say, ‘Nope, this person you want to send here is too dangerous. We don’t want to supervise them and refuse to take them.’ I’d like to see that happen,” said Rep. Al O’Brien.
As it stands now, the state can’t send a felon like Clemmons back to the state where he served time.
“That’s not what the rules allow,” said Vail. “The rules are complicated; they’re cumbersome. We think they need to be more streamlined and simple.”
With the next meeting of the interstate compact not scheduled until next year, there was a sense of urgency at Thursday’s meeting.
“It’s like a treaty. You’ve got 50 states and every body is at the table and we don’t want to wait for that table to come together again in 2011,” Vail said. “We want to do something faster than that.”
Despite spiked anxiety, there were no final decisions made at the meeting; however, Vail hopes the meeting leads to action, and soon.
The state of Washington currently has a ban on receiving new felons from Arkansas.
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