Governor fires WA prison watchdog, citing ‘insubordination'

Gov. Bob Ferguson has fired the head of the state's independent prison watchdog office, accusing him of insubordination and misconduct" amid an ethics investigation.

Jeremiah Bourgeois, director of the office of the corrections ombuds, had been suspended with pay from the position earlier this week, according to an April 20 letter from Franklin Plaistowe, the governor's chief operating officer.

Plaistowe told Bourgeois he was assigned to home duty and paid while the state investigated complaints of unethical and unprofessional conduct, ordering him to halt all work and contact with the office's employees until the probe was complete.

Bourgeois refused to follow those restrictions and publicly accused the governor's office of undermining his work.

On Friday, Ferguson fired him.

"Your actions constitute direct insubordination and misconduct. Given the severity of this matter, the Governor is removing you," Plaistowe wrote in a termination letter.

Bourgeois has denied the allegations of ethical misconduct and accused the governor's office of retaliating against him and undermining the independence of the ombud office - including blocking the hiring of key employees.

He rejected Plaistowe's orders to go on home assignment this week in a defiant email that he shared with The Seattle Times, writing that the governor's office had "no authority to instruct me as to how I conduct my work."

The blowup follows months of behind-the-scenes tensions in the office of the corrections ombuds, a small state agency that investigates problems in state prisons, such as shoddy medical care that has led to deaths and expensive lawsuits.

Bourgeois knows the prison system well. He spent 27 years locked up after getting a life sentence at age 14 for fatally shooting a minimart owner in 1992. He was released in 2019 after legal reforms rescinded mandatory life without parole sentences for people convicted of murder as juveniles.

He graduated from Gonzaga Law School and was appointed to the state's Sentencing Guidelines Commission. His life has been held up in news articles and tributes as a story of redemption.

Ferguson quietly appointed Bourgeois director of the ombud office late last year. His annual salary is $143,000.

It has not gone smoothly.

In the letter this week, Plaistowe said Bourgeois has been accused of an array of personnel and ethical violations, including misusing a prison ID badge and state vehicle and awarding a contract to a friend, keeping it at under $10,000 to avoid review.

Plaistowe also wrote that Bourgeois allegedly created a "toxic" workplace with disrespectful and unprofessional comments to staff and retaliated against employees who reported concerns.

Since Bourgeois' appointment Nov. 15, four ombud office employees have resigned, and three have gone on "protected medical leave, citing a hostile and toxic work environment …" Plaistowe wrote.

Bourgeois disputed Plaistowe's characterization, saying the three people who went on leave are among the four who later left their jobs.

An online roster of staff for the office lists only 11 total employees.

"While this investigation is active, you will be assigned to your home. Your only responsibility during this home assignment is to be available by telephone during your normal work schedule hours," Plaistowe wrote in the letter, which Bourgeois provided to The Seattle Times.

Plaistowe added that Bourgeois was barred from making contact with ombud staff or going into the office, and said he could be fired if he violated the directive.

Bourgeois, in his response to Plaistowe, said he intended to ignore the home assignment order and would "continue to perform my job duties" as he saw fit. "I question whether you have the authority to instigate the ersatz investigation of untruthful and exaggerated charges that you have initiated," he added.

In interviews with The Seattle Times, Bourgeois questioned the timing of the investigation, and said the governor's office has wrongfully interfered with his ability as an independent watchdog to hire employees and to push for more robust scrutiny of the prison system.

"All of it is unsettling and alarming and illustrates what I have been experiencing as director of this agency since the very beginning," he said Thursday.

Bourgeois has been trying for months to bring George Fearing, a retired Court of Appeals judge, on board to help with his efforts. But he said the governor's office has repeatedly sought to cancel or delay the hiring.

Fearing, in an interview, confirmed he'd been asked by Bourgeois, who was his law clerk for two years, to take a part-time job with the ombud office. He said he had "high regard" for Bourgeois and believed he had the authority to hire employees without the governor's signoff.

Bourgeois aired his conflicts with the governor's office publicly on Thursday, announcing in posts on LinkedIn that his efforts to make the office of the corrections ombuds less "beholden" to the Department of Corrections had "apparently displeased" the governor's office.

"In spite of resistance, Director Bourgeois will continue to perform his job duties as he deems to be in the best interest of OCO, Washington State Department of Corrections, incarcerated individuals and state of Washington," he wrote.

In the termination letter Friday, Plaistowe cited the LinkedIn posts, which were made on the ombud office's official account, as well as an email Bourgeois sent to an office employee.

Those actions were in "direct contradiction of the written and verbal directives provided to you," Plaistowe wrote.

After his firing, Bourgeois said in a text message he was "happy to have had this opportunity to serve the people of the state of Washington. I did so with integrity.

Editor's note: This story, which previously reported on Bourgeois' suspension, was updated Friday afternoon to reflect that he had been fired.

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This story was originally published April 24, 2026 at 6:43 AM.