January 21, 2009

LOCAL 308 MEMBER RAISES CONCERNS ABOUT BILL CUTTING SUPERVISION OF RELEASED OFFENDERS

It's not exactly like the governor's plan, but the first legislation to ease the deficit by cutting community supervision of offenders has serious flaws, a member of Community Corrections Local 308 in Seattle told legislators Tuesday.

At issue is Senate Bill 5288 that would reduce the categories of offenders supervised by Community Corrections members. The plan could harm community safety-and cost the jobs of hundreds of Community Corrections members.

Ginger Richardson, a Community Corrections officer in King County and a member of Local 308, said a key assessment tool used to classify offenders has only been in place six months. Yet the cuts are being based on possibly flawed information.

"Has the assessment tool been in place long enough for you to make a decision?" Richardson asked the Senate Human Services and Corrections Committee.

She added: "Does this protect the public? No, it doesn't."

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