Unwanted Contact

If you receive unwanted contact from an incarcerated person, a person being supervised in the community by the Washington Department of Corrections, or from anyone else on behalf of a person who is currently confined in a Department of Corrections facility or under the Department’s supervision in the community, please contact the Victim Services Program. We will assist in taking measures to stop the contact.

Examples of unwanted contact include:

• Phone calls, email messages, or letters from a person who is prohibited by court order from communicating with you or another member of your household;
• Phone calls, email messages, or letters from a person that are threatening, harassing, intimidating, or persistently annoying;
• Phone calls, email messages, or letters that continue after you have told the person to stop communicating with you;
• Communication that comes to you from someone that you believe is acting on behalf of a person under the jurisdiction of the Department of Corrections, and that you find to be threatening, harassing or intimidating, or that is in violation of a court order.

You are under no obligation to continue to accept communication that makes you afraid or upset, or that interferes with your ability to manage your own life, from someone incarcerated in a Department of Corrections prison facility, or living in the community under the supervision of the Department of Corrections. If this is happening to you, please let us know.

Please note: If you have received unwanted contact in the form of voicemail messages or written messages – including letters, emails, text messages, messages through social media – please do not discard, destroy or delete them. While having this tangible evidence is not necessary for the Department to take steps to stop the contact, it can be useful in holding the appropriate people accountable for continued violations of court orders and imposed conditions.