W.Va.’s Prisons Overcrowded
By ANNIE DIMMICKCHARLESTON - There is not enough room in West Virginia's jails and prisons for its inmates, and jail officials say the overpopulation issue is expected to get worse in the coming years.
As a result, the West Virginia Legislature is being asked to take action.
According to the latest statistics released by the West Virginia Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety and the West Virginia Division of Corrections, the population in regional jails and prisons in West Virginia as of Dec. 31 was 6,059. The current prison capacity in the state is 5,300.
"It's at a critical state," said Joseph Thornton, DMAPS' deputy secretary for operations and media. "If it's not dealt with ... I'd hate to think what will happen."
Thornton said Division of Corrections prisons currently are holding about 1,200 more inmates than they have room for. As a result, many of the regional jails, including the Northern Regional Jail in Moundsville, are housing DOC inmates. Thornton said it costs the state about $20 million a year to house DOC convicts.
In January, James Spears, cabinet secretary for DMAPS, spoke to the Joint Standing Committee on Government Organization regarding the issue. According to Spears, prison population has steadily increased since 1990, when the population was 1,575 prisoners. During his presentation, Spears told the committee that the Criminal Justice Statistical Analysis Center is projecting the prison population in West Virginia will be 8,530 by 2012.
One remedy Spears suggested to the committee is the construction of a new, 1,200-bed prison, which he estimated would cost between $150 million and $200 million. He also noted that 85 percent of current jail and prison inmates are being held for non-violent crimes, suggesting rehabilitation through treatment programs for those offenders as another solution.
In a correctional views report issued by the DOC at the end of 2008, the top five crimes committed by DOC inmates for fiscal 2008 were:
- Robbery - 547 inmates;
- Drugs - 597 inmates;
- Burglary/Breaking and Entering - 704 inmates;
- Forcible Sex Offense - 840 inmates; and
- Homicide - 841 inmates.
That report, which was compiled through statistics from the WV DOC FY 07-08 Annual Report and a daily inmate count, among other sources, also reported that the total prison commitments for calendar year 2008 were 3,273, while the total number of prisoners released - including parolees, dischargees, escapees, those who died while incarcerated, court-ordered releasees, pardonees, medical respite and diagnostic releasees - was 2,698.
The overpopulation issue is one the government has been aware of for some time. In a symposium held in November, members of all three branches of state government, as well as representatives from other state departments, made five recommendations to combat the overpopulation issue:
- The creation of a commission to develop a Criminal Justice Plan. Since the symposium, Gov. Joe Manchin issued Executive Order 1-09, officially creating the commission. That group is scheduled to give a report to the governor July 1.
- A review of statutory sentencing provisions and practices, which would include implementing parole so low-risk offenders could be released earlier. It would also include possible sentence reductions.
- Increasing prison capacity through the construction a facility that could house up to 1,800 inmates, including expansions of the Mount Olive and St. Mary's Correctional Centers.
- The expansion of drug and alcohol treatment programs, community corrections programs and halfway houses and community mental health and substance abuse services.
- Fund and expand the use of research and data collection, which would include speeding up the development and implementation of the court data system and the hiring of data analysts and researchers.
Thornton said many of those recommendations could serve as solutions, but he noted that solving the problem will not be easy.
"If we found the magic answer to the prison problem, the jails would be under capacity," Thornton said. "We're the keepers of the inn. Other folks arrest them, other folks sentence them, we just house them."
Still, he added that public safety is paramount to DMAPS, and that it will always ensure that communities will be protected from dangerous criminals.
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unit817
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06-09-09 5:37 AM
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The best thing that can happen to you if you are sick or homeless is to go to jail. The state pays all of your medical and shelter expenses and you don't have to do a thing. And you can sue the first chance you get. If you WORK at the jail, on the other hand, you are subjected to long hours, sleep deprivation, the threat of losing you job or being sued personally if you make one mistake. And if you can afford PEIA insurance, you will still be left with a mountain of medical bills afterward. No wonder the jails are overcrowded, it's more appealing to be an inmate than to be a CO.
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CTMountaineer
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03-29-09 8:12 AM
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robo... You can thank Recht for a lot of that mess, and the political machine was only too happy to jump on board and make themsleves and their relatives wealthy at taxpayer expense in the process via rediculous construction bonanzas. Manchin is messing up the higher education system today in much the same way Caperton did the correctional system. He has created a whole new bureaucracy with which to reward his cronies with taxpayer funds with the community colleges.
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robojock
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03-28-09 4:22 PM
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This is problem has been purcolating for years. The regional jails and prison system is joke, as they closed down local jails, actually generating a profit by charging prisoners and renting cells to the feds, to the current system which is now bankrupt. the funny thing is is that several jails were deemed uninhabitable and closed, to be switched to the new regional system, only to be reopened 2 months later as minimum security halfway house buildings. Somebody got paid somewhere and now the taxpayers are paying as always!
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EllisWyatt
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03-28-09 3:17 PM
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Places like China, Russia and Singapore don't need massive prison industries because they actually punish people there. Armed robbery, theft, rape, murder, drug dealing and illegal entry into the country are just some of the crimes for which Singapore can execute you. Russia and China send people to prison camps, which are not the same thing as prisons. They also execute a great many people so they don't need as much prison space. US prisoners get free food, housing, health care, exercise facilities, reading materials, cable TV, and educational training. They have it much better than the law abiding, working poor. Well, the poor at least have freedom, you say. Not true. The working poor are chained to dead end jobs because they can't save enough money to move up, given the government's desire to tax & spend and kill the economy. Prisoners have it much better than those who pay taxes to support them.
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CTMountaineer
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03-28-09 10:35 AM
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West Virginia's prison problem was exacorbated by Gaston Caperton and his Democrat machine, with the help of Arthur Recht when they needlessly closed the Moundsville prison. They could go a long way toward solving the problem is they converted the other half of the complex at Moundsville into a prison, and built a new regional jail in Ohio County where it should have been in the first place. Monongalia County also needs a new regional jail. The solution to the prison problem lies in building two new regional jails and using existing facilities.
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wvhoopie
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03-28-09 10:14 AM
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America imprisons more of its population than any other industrialize country. It seems we relish the idea of making more laws for people to violate so we can imprison them. Yea, this is the land of freedom, for sure. Communist China has the prison thing down real good, and we seem to emulate the communists so much we can't wait to buy more commie products. If you imprison them, you have to feed, house, clothe, medical, and other reasonable items as required by the pesky document called the constitution.
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CHANGE
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03-28-09 6:10 AM
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IF ANYONE WANTS TO SEARCH "TENT CITY"-- SHERIFF JOE ARPAIO, MARICOPA COUNTY ARIZONIA. ****mcso****
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CHANGE
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03-28-09 5:35 AM
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TO MANY BLEEDING HEARTS OUT THERE. THESE PRISONERS HAVE IT BETTER THAN MOST PEOPLE ON THE OUTSIDE. DID ANYONE EVERY HEAR OF "TENT CITY" AND IT WORKS. LETS GET BACK TO HARD TIMES NOT VACATION SUITES. PUT THEM BACK IN MOUNDSVILLE PRISON WOULD BE A GOOD START..
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olewillie
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03-28-09 5:17 AM
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Heck let all the druggies out, and decriminalize MJ
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Bossman011
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03-28-09 5:06 AM
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1200 beds isn't going to be enough.
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Trollll
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03-28-09 5:06 AM
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The continued emphasis on long sentences for offenders better treated by rehabilitation servives is going to strangle our state worse than the current economic crisis. Despite the reality that we cannot keep dedicating higher and higher percentages of our limited tax funds towards incarceration of people we are mad at (as opposed to those who we are afraid of), the first suggestion from administration officials is to build more expensive prisons. Hardline Prohibition doesn't work. Time to re-evaluate our approach at dealing with those people who commit personal use drug offenses.
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