Computer glitch gives seven Mich. prisoners early release

Computerworld - Seven Michigan prisoners were let out of jail ahead of schedule because the system used by the Department of Corrections (DOC) to determine release dates for some sentences wasn't programmed correctly, according to a report by Michigan's auditor general, Thomas McTavish (download PDF).
In addition, some of the information was entered into the system incorrectly, the auditor general said in the report, which was released last week.
The audit was performed from August 2004 through March 2005 and focused on the accuracy of prisoner release dates between Oct. 1, 2003, and March 31, 2005.
During that time, the DOC released seven prisoners from 39 to 147 days early, the report said. Those prisoners were serving sentences for crimes such as escape from prison; embezzlement; manufacture, delivery or possession of a narcotic; larceny; and writing bad checks, McTavish said in his report.
After he notified the DOC of these errors, the state's parole board either extended the parole of these people or reincarcerated them.
The DOC also told McTavish that it had identified 15 other prisoners whose release dates were calculated incorrectly -- from 380 days to 1,014 days. Eight of those prisoners were still in jail and seven were on parole, according to the findings of the report.
"In Finding 1, it was that the computer was not programmed correctly. It was not programmed to compute all types of release dates," said Scott Strong, deputy auditor general. "And Findings 2 and 3 were more [caused by] data entry as opposed to programming."
A prisoner's release date is based upon a number of factors, including the crime committed and the date of the offense, according to McTavish.
After DOC personnel enter prisoner and sentencing information into the Offender Management Network, the information is transferred electronically to the Corrections Management Information System, which computes a prisoner's release date. Because the DOC didn't make sure the CMIS was programmed correctly, it inaccurately computed release dates, the auditor general said.
In addition, DOC personnel didn't always input the correct information, which could lead the DOC to release prisoners before or even after their correct release date, according to the report.
The Offender Management Network and CMIS were built by the state's Department of Information Technology, which provides support to DOC for the two systems in addition to system development and maintenance.
DOC officials couldn't be reached for comment, but Strong said the agency has been working to correct the problems.

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