Veteran Parole Officer Fired After Paid Leave

The state Department of Corrections has fired a veteran parole officer who was in trouble for the way she handled the cases of three parolees linked to later crimes, officials said Tuesday.

Barbara Nelson, who has been on paid leave since Dec. 4, was notified late Monday that she’s terminated effective March 18, said Tim Welch, spokesman for the Washington Federation of State Employees.

Nelson, who claimed last month that the department is making her a scapegoat for systemwide problems, plans to file an appeal with a state personnel board. She also has indicated she’s considering a lawsuit against the agency.

Corrections Department spokesman Veltry Johnson said Nelson was fired due to “specific behaviors that were incompatible with department policy and as it regards to community safety.” He declined to give specifics, citing agency confidentiality in personnel matters.

Welch also declined to release the termination notice because it may be the subject of litigation. But he said the notice essentially cited her supervision of Johnny Eggers and Dan Van Ho, along with relatively minor disciplinary actions during her 21-year career, as reasons for termination.

Nelson was placed on leave and ordered to stay away from the office after the state admitted in November that she was negligent in supervising Eggers in 1994. Eggers was convicted of killing 17-year-old Tacoma cheerleader Meeka Willingham after he completed his parole.

A jury ordered the Department of Corrections to pay nearly $6.3 million to the victim’s family.

Ho is accused of fatally stabbing retired firefighter Stanley Stevenson as he left a Seattle Mariners game at the Kingdome in August. Stevenson’s survivors have filed claims of $10 million each against the city, King County and the state.

In an interview last month, Nelson said it was not her duty to supervise the men at the time the crimes were committed. Her supervision of Eggers was thorough, and the Ho case only briefly crossed her desk before being assigned to someone else, she said.