Prisons agency settles lawsuit

OLYMPIA – The state Corrections Department says it’s reached a preliminary settlement in a lawsuit claiming offenders with disabilities didn’t have equal access to work-release sites.

The prisons agency says it will pay about $300,000 in the settlement. That includes $30,000 for the main plaintiff and $1,800 each to 166 offenders who were part of the class-action lawsuit.

The DOC also plans to change the way it assigns inmates to work-release facilities and will pay lawyer’s fees as determined by U.S. District Court.

The lead plaintiff, arthritis sufferer Rickey Peralez, sued in 2006. Peralez said he was denied work release at a site in Tacoma because he used a wheelchair and couldn’t climb stairs to the second-floor dormitory.