Poorly designed programs and spendthrift politicians aren’t the only things that cost taxpayers money. Accidents do as well, and sometimes have effects well beyond just the dollars and cents.

That can be especially true of our justice system.

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) filed a Freedom of Information (FOI) request with Justice and Solicitor General Alberta and found more accidents in the safe retention of our prisoners that you might expect.

You might expect a few enterprising criminals to spring themselves once in a while, but how often do you think the government accidentally or unintentionally releases criminals still doing time?

The statistics surprised me.

According to figures released from Justice and Solicitor General, the government accidentally or unintentionally released three prisoners so far in 2014, four in 2013, in in 2012, and six in 2010.

These aren’t prisoners tunnelling through stone to escape, Shawshank Redemption style. This is the justice system releasing them. Accidentally.

The document also lists how long the accidentally escapees were on the run before being returned. Many of them only make it out for a day or so, while others were out for up to almost two years.

There were five cases of “incorrect wording on warrants received from courts,” two cases of “sentence miscalculation,” and one case of “identity theft.” I have a strong suspicion what that last guy was in the slammer for.

According to officials that I spoke with at Justice Alberta, the vast majority of these accidental releases were paperwork issues – bureaucracy.

Click here to view the full FOI request.