Prison Conditions

In early April, a guard at Snake River Correctional Institution (SRCI) shot and wounded a prisoner during a fight in the recreation area.

On May 12, James Ivan Biggs was found dead in his cell at Snake River Correctional Institution in Ontario, Oregon. The Malheur County District Attorney reported that the death was a homicide.

For the second legislative session in a row, Senator Jim Kastama from Puyallup sponsored a bill, Senate Bill 5295, that would have created the position of Ombudsman for the Washington Department of Corrections.

Washington courts awarded a settlement of $1,262,500 to prisoners and former prisoners who lost their personal property when the Department of Corrections moved them to a different prison.

Santiam Correctional Institution in Salem was evacuated on February 15 after a chemical smell sent three corrections officers to the hospital. Four hundred fifty prisoners were taken into the prison’s yard.