On the day Louisiana is releasing 19-hundred non-violent offenders, a state audit finds the Department of Corrections is not able to track offenders or know their exact release date. They found 11 percent of offenders were at another facility other than what was reported in their computer system. Another 19 percent had at least one error in their record. Auditor Kristen Jacobs says the DOC does not have hard and fast policies which lead to improper reporting by local facilities.
In several cases, the audit found that the DOC did not have proper methods in place to calculate correct prisoner release dates. Jacobs says the DOC tried to plug up the holes in the records system. They spent 3.6-million-dollars a few years ago on a computer data system that was quickly abandoned.
The DOC has been notified of their findings and Jacobs says they are willing to work on streamlining very complex procedures.