oregon state correctional institution10.31.13

A computer glitch led to thousands of calls on Friday evening to victims, family members and others erroneously alerting them that the inmate they track would soon be released.

(Les Zaitz/The Oregonian)

A computer glitch led an Oregon Department of Corrections monitoring system to call thousands of victims and family members on Friday evening, erroneously alerting them that an inmate they were tracking would soon be released.

Elizabeth Craig, a corrections spokeswoman, said the system issued about 8,000 erroneous alerts. She added that the system's out-of-state contractor, Appriss, is attempting to fix the system and plans to call all notified victims to alert them of the error.

KGW-TV reported Friday night that one of alerts earlier in the evening reported that the notorious convicted murderer Ward Weaver III had been released. Corrections spokeswoman Betty Bernt confirmed Weaver remains behind bars. He was convicted of aggravated murder in 2004 for the deaths of two teen-aged girls in Oregon City.

The Victim Information and Notification Everyday, dubbed Vine, allows victims, family members and others to track when inmates are scheduled for release. The system was launched in 2001 and monitors those in county jails, state correctional facilities, Oregon Youth Authority facilities and anyone on community supervision.

"We take services to victims very seriously, and apologize for the incorrect notifications that were made this evening," Craig said. "We are working to understand what caused the glitch to ensure this does not happen again."

The state also provides a searchable database to check the status of inmates.

-- Laura Gunderson

lgunderson@oregonian.com

503-221-8378

@LGunderson