Minimum custody DOC inmates, including some from Pierce County, released amid pandemic
Inmates from Pierce County are among those who were released from state Department of Corrections facilities in the past week in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Gov. Jay Inslee, via an emergency proclamation and commutation order earlier this month, authorized the release of about 1,100 inmates who were convicted of non-violent crimes, some of whom are from the South Sound.
The state Supreme Court denied a petition 5-4 Thursday that sought the release of thousands of inmates who are close to release and those who are especially vulnerable to COVID-19.
DOC’s website Friday said 12 inmates and seven staff members at Monroe Correctional Complex have tested positive for the virus.
“Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and need to provide more physical distancing within the state’s correctional facilities, the Department has implemented a limited transfer of minimum custody and work release incarcerated individuals to their communities,” DOC’s website says.
As of Friday there were roughly 400 people on DOC’s list of people released due to the governor’s emergency commutation — 54 from Pierce County. There also were two people from Pierce County listed as pending.
“The commutation is specific to those in custody whose judgment and sentences include those who do not have a conviction for a violent or sex offense and whose projected release date is prior to or on June 29, 2020,” the DOC list says. “It authorizes their transfer from confinement within seven days of the order, or as soon as can be reasonably achieved thereafter.”
The crimes of those from Pierce County include various gun and drug offenses, possessing stolen property, taking a motor vehicle without permission and burglary.
Several have lengthy criminal histories, but the offenses they were most recently serving time for are considered less serious.
A 24-year-old man serving 18 months for unlawful delivery of a controlled substance was released Sunday.
He was caught by an undercover Tacoma police officer selling two Oxycodone pills in September 2017.
In another case, a 42-year-old felon serving 22 months for second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm was released Monday.
Pierce County sheriff’s deputies arrested him on a fugitive warrant in December 2018 and discovered he’d tossed a semi-automatic gun while trying to flee. Due to a prior drive-by shooting conviction, the man was prohibited from having a weapon.
He was also found with cocaine and methamphetamine on him, court records say.
Besides the commutation list, DOC also has a “rapid reentry” list that included 98 people from Pierce County as of Friday. Only one of the 98 had been transferred to the community. The rest were pending.
“Individuals will be transferred to an established residence and placed on electronic monitoring to complete their sentence of confinement,” that DOC record said. “These individuals will be monitored by correctional specialists in the community. Individuals are subject to their conditions of supervision and, if they violate those conditions, could be returned to confinement.”
There were also six people from Pierce County listed as “transferred to the community” on DOC’s work release furlough list.
“Furlough means an authorized leave of absence for an eligible individual, without any requirement that the individual be accompanied by, or be in the custody of, any corrections official while on such leave,” according to DOC. “Furloughed individuals are subject to their conditions of furlough and, if they violate those conditions, could be returned to confinement.”
Bobby Duggins, 30 of Pierce County, said he was released April 18 from DOC in Shelton due to the emergency commutation order. He said he served a little more than two years there for a conviction of second-degree taking a motor vehicle without permission.
His release was a little more than a month earlier than he expected.
“I think the decision to downsize the population was smart, for sure,” Duggins said. “Because you can’t social distance from there.”
He was living with 120 people, he said, who shared four phones and five shower heads.
Duggins said he’d been scared about the possibility of getting sick and spreading the virus to his parents, who are in their 60s, and his 11-year-old daughter.
He said he has a job as a welder that he’s returning to, but that the company is shut down until next month.
