Correctional, Parole Officer Vacancies In State Jails Reduced To Single Digits

After years of understaffing, West Virginia’s prison and jail system now has a correctional and parole officer vacancy rate below 10 percent.

From May to August 2024, the vacancy rate for correctional officers in state-run facilities fell from 12 to 9 percent, according to William Marshall, commissioner of the West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

Marshall shared the data with members of the state’s Legislative Oversight Committee on Regional Jail and Correctional Facility Authority, which convened for an interim meeting at the state capitol Monday morning.

The vacancy rate for parole officers currently sits at 8 percent, and the vacancy rate for non-officer positions in state jails and prisons fell from 20 to 18 percent, Marshall said.

Marshall attributed the increase in staff members to renewed training and retention efforts enacted by the state in the past two years.

In 2022, Gov. Jim Justice issued a state of emergency proclamation over understaffing in West Virginia jails and prisons, which allowed members of the West Virginia National Guard to temporarily fill officer vacancies.

In recent years, the state’s prison and jail system has faced repeated allegations of abuse and mistreatment from inmates, as well as safety concerns from union workers who say staff shortages add risks to their jobs.

Some administrators like Marshall have said that increasing the amount of staff at state facilities could improve conditions on site.

In May, Marshall announced that enough staff members had been hired for the West Virginia National Guard to pull out of the state’s prison system entirely. Hundreds of National Guard service members had served in the positions since Justice’s 2022 emergency declaration.

Now, nine of the state’s 20 prisons and jails for adults are fully staffed, he said. Some positions have even been filled by former officers who retired but agreed to come back part time to work in state facilities.

“We’re really happy with what we’ve been doing, in regards not only to recruiting officers and employees, but retaining them as well,” he said. “I think it’s a testament to the environment, the culture we’ve created in the last year and a half.”