Maryland's prison agency says it's changing its procedures and apologizing to a man who got an email saying his mother's killer had been released, when in fact the inmate had died.
The Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services says the automated message a contractor sent last May to Jimmy Trout was deliberately vague for privacy reasons.
Spokesman Gerard Shields says Trout also should have received a personal phone call or letter from the agency clarifying Marshall Metz's status.
Trout says he got neither. He and his wife say they learned the truth by calling the prison.
Shields says that starting Oct. 1, such notifications will say there's been a change in the inmate's custody status, and to call the department for more information.
