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July 1, 2011 in Region
Washington prison chief resigns
Corrections Secretary Eldon Vail answers a question about the murder at Monroe Corrections Center at a press conference in January 2011 with Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire.
(Full-size photo)
OLYMPIA, Wash. — The head of Washington’s corrections department abruptly resigned from his post Friday for what the governor’s office simply described as “personal reasons.”
A spokesman for the Department of Corrections said he had no further details about the reason for Secretary Eldon Vail’s departure. Gov. Chris Gregoire said in a statement shortly after accepting Vail’s resignation that she has appointed state prisons director Bernie Warner as acting secretary.
“This is a loss to the State of Washington, the Department of Corrections and to me personally,” Gregoire said in a statement. Vail did not return a phone call left at his home. His brief resignation letter to Gregoire said he was resigning with “deep regret” but offered no details.
The departure came after a chaotic week in the department. The widows of two of the four slain Lakewood police officers filed a claim accusing the agency of bungling its supervision of the killer. And an escape attempt at Clallam Bay Corrections Center on Wednesday ended with a prisoner being fatally shot.
Meanwhile, the department has been investigating an ethics complaint filed by a state lawmaker accusing one of Vail’s top administrators, communications director Belinda Stewart, of improperly operating nonprofits from her office. State Sen. Mike Carrell, R-Lakewood, has also complained that an investigation into a high-level staff member was being handled by other high-level staffers who might have a conflict of interest.
Karina Shagren, a spokeswoman for Gregoire, said the resignation had nothing to do with the ethics investigation.
Warner, the new acting secretary, said he was saddened that Eldon had decided to step down and that he hoped to provide the same level of leadership.
“This agency has a long history of overcoming challenges, and I know we will weather this situation with the same professionalism that I have seen time and again,” he wrote in a note to staff.
Gregoire appointed Vail as secretary in January 2008. He previously worked as superintendent at Cedar Creek Corrections Center, McNeil Island Corrections Center and Washington Corrections Center for Women.
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Kivaari on July 01 at 6:43 p.m.
Washington needs to fix its system. There is NO parole in Washington. A person is released from the graybar hotel into community corrections. That means the state can say we have no one on parole, and they are right. The prisoners live next door to us and are counted as still being in jail. Any other place the person would be on parole. A Community Corrections Officer (CCO) is a fancy name for a parole officer. The DOC releases too many violent offenders into the community. Then when a “parolee” (anywhere else anyway) screws up, the CCO is always reluctant to send them back to jail. It costs too much and is a paperwork headache. The killer of the Lakewood officers was a violent child molester that was allowed to “stay in community corrections”, instead of locked away. This happens way too often, just because the light weights in Olympia want to show the nation how progressive they are. The state will pay out huge settlements to the widows.
Ed Byrnes on July 01 at 6:44 p.m.
It sure seems that something’s up, what a great investigative reporting opportunity S-R…
MrBloggy on July 01 at 9:54 p.m.
Vail doesn’t need the job … he was retired when they called him back to clean up after Clarke. Stewart is a flake.
Corrections is a very demanding and stressful field. Vail did the best he could as the Washington State Legislature dismantled state govt.
Rep. Carrell has a head full of snakes.
Warner is a bloviating Philospher-King type whose transient nature in corrections (Washington, Arizona, Florida, Cali, Washington) might make one wonder.
Good luck, DOC, hope nobody else dies before this state and its craven govt decides to fund back essential state services.
RedCedar on July 01 at 11:02 p.m.
Just “personal reasons”. Nothing to see here. Move right along, folks.