OLYMPIA… Members of the Washington State Senate Tuesday gave overwhelming approval to a bill from Sen. Mike Carrell which would provide rental vouchers to inmates returning to society after their release from prison. 

Senate Bill 5525, co-sponsored by every member of the Senate Human Services and Corrections Committee, would potentially save state taxpayers millions of dollars by preventing extended prison stays and reducing recidivism. 

“When an offender is ready to be released back into the community, sometimes he or she can’t find a job or can’t find a place to live,” said Carrell, R-Lakewood. “My bill would provide these individuals with limited housing vouchers so they can get into stable housing situations quickly and find employment.” 

Carrell added that the state Department of Corrections retained about 600 offenders past their earned early release date, which is an average of about 15 weeks per offender. At an average cost of around $612 a week, that would have taxpayers footing a bill for roughly $9,180 per offender per year. 

“The rental vouchers would be limited to a maximum of three months so the state would not be paying the rent for these individuals indefinitely,” Carrell said. “It’s also a lot easier for a community corrections officer to keep track of a released offender living in an apartment than it is trying to find someone living under a bridge or on a park bench.” 

SB 5525 will now be considered by the House of Representatives.