The state Department of Corrections has appealed a proposed $26,000 fine levied against it after another state agency determined working conditions at the Washington State Reformatory were unsafe the night corrections officer J
ayme Biendl was killed.
In a two-page notice of appeal, prison officials did not elaborate on reasons for challenging the Department of Labor and Industries fine, which was nearly the maximum amount allowed.
“This helps us maintain the right to appeal,” Department of Corrections spokesman Chad Lewis said. “It gives us time to review the documents. If we didn’t file any response, we would lose the right to file an appeal.”
The corrections department filed the appeal in early August. It was given a 15-day window to challenge the fine, but it will take much longer to review all the records, Lewis said. Reviewing the documents also will give the department more opportunity to study the recommendations, and decide what it might want to do differently, he added.
After a six-month investigation into Biendl’s death, Labor and Industries in July found three serious violations at the reformatory. A serious violation is considered a problem that creates a substantial probability of serious workplace injury or death.
L&I found prison supervisors were not routinely enforcing orders designed to monitor the safety of officers who worked in the chapel and in the nearby Programs and Activities Building.
Biendl, 32, was attacked in the chapel around 8:30 p.m. Jan. 29, but she was not found until 10:18 p.m.
Inmate Byron Scherf, 52, a convicted rapist serving a life sentence, is charged with aggravated first-degree murder and could face the death penalty. He’s accused of slipping back into the building and killing Biendl when prisoners were being moved back to their cells.
Standing rules called post orders directed Biendl, the chapel officer, to clear the building of inmates at 8:30 then to report to staff in Tower 9.
L&I investigators found no proof that procedure was being followed consistently.
Post orders also directed the chapel officer to help staff in the Program and Activities Building after clearing the chapel. That didn’t happen the night of the killing, and the policy wasn’t usually enforced.
Prison policy said Biendl and other officers with similar shifts were supposed to notify a sergeant when they were done for the day and to return chapel equipment to the control room. Those policies were not followed consistently or enforced, state labor and industries investigators found.
Corrections officers also had no clear directions on what they were supposed to be doing during “movements,” when inmates are allowed to travel between zones within the prison, officials said.
Labor and Industries also found there wasn’t adequate training or testing to make sure orders were being followed.
State corrections officials say they are nearly done with investigations of seven officers whose actions have come under scrutiny since Biendl’s death.
Each is entitled to a hearing and will be given a chance to contest any allegations of wrongdoing, Lewis said.
Monroe Correctional Complex Superintendent Scott Frakes then will decide if misconduct occurred and, if it did, what disciplinary action to take against the individual officers.
That can include no discipline, demotion or termination and “anything in between,” Lewis said.
Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446, stevick@heraldnet.com.
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