Located on the grounds of Western State Hospital until 2005, Tacoma Pre-Release was a total confinement facility housing 140 female offenders. Prior to 2000, the facility housed male offenders. Offenders are authorized to transfer to pre-release when they are within 24 months of the end of their sentence, but they remain under constant supervision.

The Department of Corrections has moved this female facility to a new location in Mason County in anticipation of moving the Progress House Program to the Western State Hospital site. Unlike offenders in pre-release programs, work release inmates are free to come and go during the day and would present the risk of interacting with local children and the vulnerable residents of Western State Hospital.