TACOMA, WA - Corrections officials want to open more work-release centers across Washington to relieve pressure on the state's overcrowded prison system and to ease ex-convicts' transition into local communities. Harold Clarke, secretary of the state Department of Corrections, announced last week that his staff will look for potential sites where centers don't already exist.

There are currently 16 work-release sites statewide: four in King County, three in Pierce County, two in Spokane County and one each in Thurston, Kitsap, Clark, Whatcom, Franklin, Yakima and Benton counties.

Pierce County Prosecutor Gerry Horne, a critic of the state's work-release program, said it's too early to tell if building such facilities in other counties will help Pierce County because prison officials have not said whether any of the new ones would be located in the county. Read more.

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