And the median error the bug introduced was 49 days, Ars Tecnica reports. However, one prisoner had his sentence cut by an extra 600 days, but he is still incarcerated.
“That this problem was allowed to continue for 13 years is deeply disappointing to me, totally unacceptable and frankly, maddening,” said Washington governor Jay Inslee at a press conference. “I have a lot of questions about how and why this happened, and I understand that members of the public will have those same questions.”
The problem resulted from “good time” credits that were applied to some prison sentences, and the Corrections Department reports that it wasn’t discovered until a victim’s family alerted officials in 2012 that they may be releasing an offender too early, The Seattle Times reports. When the problem was discovered, a software fix was scheduled but was delayed repeatedly for reasons that aren’t clear.
Inslee, a Democrat, said his office found out about the problem on Dec. 16. Analysis by the Department of Corrections (DOC) showed the problem affected about 3 percent of all releases. Corrections Secretary Dan Pacholke, who recently took over the department, said he found out about the early releases the previous day.
According to estimates, on average the offenders were released from prison 55 days before the correct release dates, said Nicholas Brown, Inslee’s general counsel.
Retired federal prosecutors Robert Westinghouse and Carl Blackstone have been hired by Inslee to investigate how the error occurred and why it has taken 13 years to resolve, CNN reports.
“These were serious errors with serious implications,” Inslee said in a statement. “When I learned of this, I ordered DOC to fix this, fix it fast, and fix it right.”
The governor said he has a lot of questions about how and why the mistake happened, and said he also understands that the public has the same questions. He said he expects the investigation will bring the necessary transparency and accountability needed to resolve the issue.
He has also temporarily halted the release of any state prison inmate “until a hand calculation is done to ensure the offender is being released on the correct date,” according to officials.
The round up for those still required to spend time in prison has begun, and local police have already returned five people to their cells, BBC News reports. An update that uses the correct formula to calculate sentence cuts is scheduled to be in place by January 7.
