Among those likely to be released from prison early is an Oak Harbor man who tried to fraudulently obtain life insurance on his terminally ill son and a man who crashed a stolen car into a cop car, a parked vehicle and the Whidbey Playhouse.

Gov. Jay Inslee is releasing 1,100 prison inmates before they served their full sentences as a response to the state Supreme Court’s order that state officials “immediately exercise their authority to take all necessary steps to protect the health and safety of the named petitioners and all Department of Corrections inmates in response to the COVID-19 outbreak.”

Under the governor’s plan, only inmates who committed nonviolent, non-sex crimes are being released.

ISLAND COUNTY Prosecutor Greg Banks said his staff “scoured” the lists of people being released and found relatively few are serving sentences from convictions in Island County Superior Court.

None of those who were furloughed — those within 30 days of release, among other criteria — were from Island County, Banks explained.

The governor is also commuting the sentences of 460 inmates. Banks’ staff was able to find only one Island County person, a car thief, on the list.

In addition, Banks said, 660 inmates were identified as eligible for Rapid Re-Entry. They will be transferred to partial confinement, which will likely mean electronic home monitoring. Banks said five inmates eligible for the program are serving time on an Island County conviction.

That includes Charles Boyles, who was sentenced Dec. 20, 2019 to 13 months in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit theft in the first degree, perjury in the first degree and conspiracy to commit a fraudulent insurance claim.

EDWARD BRIMEYER was sentenced in February to 14 months in prison after pleading guilty to possession of a stolen vehicle, possession of methamphetamine, identify theft in the second degree, attempting to elude a pursing police vehicle, vehicle prowl in the second degree and two counts of hit and run.

In addition, an inmate convicted in Island County is serving time for unlawful possession of a firearm; another is serving a drug possession sentence; and another was convicted of trafficking in stolen property in relation to a Freeland burglary.

Columbia Legal Services sued the state last month on behalf of five inmates, asking the state Supreme Court to order the release of everyone in Department of Corrections custody who is 50 or older; has serious health problems; or is scheduled for release in the next 18 months.

The court is scheduled to hear oral arguments this week.

BANKS SAID the Supreme Court’s order required a quick response, and this is how state officials chose to respond.

“Every crime has a story,” he wrote, “and the decision of the governor and the DOC were based on cold data. Obviously, if you were part of the story, the data is not going to make this seem right.”

The Washington Association of Prosecuting Attorneys has decided to work with the governor instead of fight him over the issue, Banks said. The state has had a shortage of prison beds for years, which exacerbated the prison crowding and the risk of coronavirus spreading.

Likewise, Island County Superior Court Judge Alan Hancock said it’s a difficult issue to parse.

“As a matter of simple justice,” he wrote in an email, “and according to the policy of the Sentencing Reform Act that punishment protect the public and be just, proportionate, and commensurate with the punishment imposed on others committing similar offenses, I believe that persons convicted of criminal offenses should serve their time as ordered.”

BUT, ON the other hand, he added, the governor’s order was a response to the state Supreme Court’s ruling that the state must take steps to protect inmates from the risk of a COVID-19 outbreak sweeping through a detention facility.

“This is one of the unfortunate consequences of the coronavirus,” he said.

State Sen. Ron Muzzall, R-Oak Harbor, however, came out with a statement against the early releases. He pointed out that the state Supreme Court did not mandate the specific action, which he characterized as extreme and claimed would endanger “communities and inmates alike.”

“I’ve had some reservations about decisions the governor has made responding to various aspects of the COVID-19 outbreak, but this move is just foolish,” Muzzall said in a statement. “I believe the state has options for limiting the exposure for those incarcerated that stops far short of releasing them before they’ve served their debt to society.”