Woops. Our bad, guys.

The Washington Department of Corrections (DOC) has incorrectly freed approximately 3200 criminals since 2002 because of mistakes made when calculating credit for “good time” served.

In 2002, the Supreme Court issued a ruling requiring the Corrections Department to carry good-behaviour credits earned in county jail over to state prison sentences.

This new ruling extended good credits only to the initial sentencing time, not the added time that some prisoners received for committing crimes with a weapon. But a software error meant prisoners were given too many credits for good behaviour and set free early.

A coding system was implemented to calculate sentences with this new ruling in mind, but it applied good behaviour credits to both the sentencing time and the added time — known as an enhancement — meaning violent criminals were back on the streets earlier than planned.

Remarkably, this error was reportedly discovered in 2012, but nothing was done to fix the situation. It was actually the family of a victim who notified authorities of the problem when they became concerned about an offender who was released earlier than anticipated.

Speaking at a press conference, Governor Inslee was clearly furious with what had happened.

“That this problem was allowed to continue for 13 years is deeply disappointing to me, totally unacceptable and, frankly, maddening,” said Inslee.

“These were serious errors with serious implications.

“When I learned of this I ordered DOC to fix this, fix it fast, and fix it right.

“I have a lot of questions about how and why this happened, and I understand that members of the public will have those same questions.”

Governor Inslee was furious with the mistake.Source:AP

While most prisoners’ early releases amount to less than 100 days, there are reports one person who is currently incarcerated had a release date set that would have seen him go free more than 600 days earlier than his sentence required.

There are conflicting reports around what will happen to prisoners who have already left jail due to the computer stuff-up. Most American news outlets are reporting that the DOC will try to locate offenders who have benefited from the monumental debacle to ensure they complete their sentences.

However, according to The Seattle Times, Inslee’s general counsel Nick Brown indicated if former prisoners haven’t broken any laws since their release, it is unlikely they will end up being incarcerated again. That is the case if prisoners have been out of jail for at least the same number of days their release was expedited by.

State Corrections Secretary Dan Pacholke has spent more than 30 years with the DOC, and apologised for his department’s oversight, saying “the agency should be held accountable for this breach”.

“I’ve apologised to the governor personally on behalf of the Department of Corrections for this 13-year error,” said Pacholke.

“I want to offer that same apology to the public. It’s an unforgivable error.”

Inslee has already appointed two former federal prosecutors to conduct an external investigation into how such a mistake could possibly have been made.

A software solution is expected to be implemented by January 7.