A technical glitch in the Washington State Department of Corrections' computer system has resulted in the early release of about 3,200 state prisoners over the last 13 years, Governor Jay Inslee said today. The error was first discovered by the DOC in 2012, but never fixed. Inslee has now called for a fix to the system and an outside investigation of the problem.

At a press conference today, Inslee said the glitch was a "serious error and had serious ramifications."

That the problem has continued unfixed for 13 years, Inslee said, is “deeply disappointing, totally unacceptable, and, frankly, it is maddening.”

Here's how the early releases have been happening, according to Inslee and the DOC: Prisoners earn "good time" for serving time in local jails before they're sent to state prison. They can also receive "earned time" for good behavior while serving their sentence. State law says those types of credits can reduce prisoners' sentences by no more than 33.3 percent. Ever since a court ruling about earned time in 2002, a computer program error has been miscalculating "good time" for certain prisoners, according to Inslee's office.

Inslee said the technical problem is expected to be fixed by January 7. In the meantime, the DOC is only releasing prisoners affected by the error hand-calculating their release date to be sure it's correct.

The glitch was first discovered in 2012 after a victim's family raised questions about an offender's early release. It's unclear why the glitch wasn't fixed then. Inslee said he has tapped two retired federal prosecutors to lead an investigation into what happened.

DOC Secretary Dan Pacholke said he wasn't told about the glitch until last Tuesday, and Inslee said he was briefed Thursday night. So far, no one has been fired for the error, according to Inslee's general counsel, Nick Brown.

Inslee and his staff say the error only affected prisoners whose sentences included "enhancements," meaning their sentences were increased by the involvement of firearms, being near a school, or other similar factors. All of the prisoners in question were convicted of felonies, but neither the DOC nor the governor's staff would reveal much about the nature of their crimes. The 3,200 account for about 3 percent of all releases during the 13 years in question.

The DOC estimates that the median number of days prisoners were released early is 49. Outliers range from just a few days to 600 days early.

While the total number of people released early since 2002 is at least 3,200, most of them will not be required to return to prison. That's because state court rulings have determined that prisoners who are accidentally released early receive credit for every day they've been out of prison and have not committed a new crime, according to Brown. Since the median early release was 49 days but the error has been happening for 13 years, most of the 3,200 have accumulated enough credit for the time they've been out to avoid going back (if they haven't committed new crimes).

Pacholke said DOC officials are working backward through release records to figure out who was let out, who has committed new crimes since being let out, and who needs to return to prison. So far, they've identified seven people who need to return (five of them have done so). That number will likely increase, but not by much, officials say.