Department of Corrections Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Latest Lawsuit Against DCR: Medical Neglect That Led To Death Of A Prisoner

A new lawsuit alleges an imprisoned person wasn’t given adequate medical care at the Southern Regional Jail and it led to his death. The lawsuit was filed by Steve New, who has other pending litigation with the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

John Lewis Jarrell was in custody for approximately six days before he was transported by ambulance to Beckley Regional Hospital, where he soon died. His mother Martha Jarrell is the plaintiff in the lawsuit.

His Medical Condition and Needs

Jarrell was taken into custody in relation to a prior arrest on June 27 for possession with intent to distribute. He had a medical history of tonsil and throat cancer, which resulted in him having a PEG, or feeding tube.

Jarrell, due to his condition, could not tolerate liquids by mouth. However, according to the suit, he had been given Gatorade by mouth. The lawsuit alleges that Jarrell likely choked on these liquids causing him to aspirate. Aspiration is when solids or liquids enter the lungs — it often leads to pneumonia.

According to the lawsuit, Jarrell was supposed to receive at least 36 cans of a calorie and protein dense liquid over the six days. According to documentation, he only received 9-12 cans.

The Timeline

On Oct. 20, two days into his stay, Jarrell appeared “chronically ill, and emaciated” according to a medical evaluation. It was noted that he was dehydrated.

The next day, Oct. 21, according to the lawsuit, his blood pressure was low. He had a high heart rate with a low blood-oxygen level. There is no record of any medical intervention to address his conditions.

The two days following, Oct. 22 and 23, there were no vital signs recorded.

The next day, early in the morning, Jarrell was transported to the hospital. Prior to transport, his blood oxygen was 53 percent, and he had a heart rate of 32 beats per second. At the hospital he was intubated due to acute respiratory failure. He died at the hospital and his cause of death was listed as sepsis and pneumonia.

West Virginia Public Broadcasting reached out to the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, however they did not respond before this story’s publication.

W.Va. Budget Surplus Spending Destinations Defined

In a Wednesday media briefing, Gov. Jim Justice and Revenue Secretary Dave Hardy defined, and added to, earlier released details on how the state will spend some of its more than $1.8 billion budget surplus.

Hardy said a little over $1.1 billion is designated as surplus section spending. He said that covers 32 different 2023 budget items passed by the legislature and signed by the governor.

He said $40 million goes to the School Building Authority to cover the inflationary rise of school building costs, and $125 million toward the construction of a new consolidated state laboratory.

“Our state laboratories are deficient,” Hardy said. “Our state police, our health department and our agricultural secretary have all stated that our laboratories are ancient and obsolete.”

Hardy made note that another $282 million is set aside for deferred maintenance for state colleges, universities and correctional facilities.

“This is taking the benefit of the surplus and applying it to deferred maintenance, that’s gone on sometimes 20 or 30 years that it’s been neglected,” he said.

Hardy said $400 million goes to the personal income tax reserve fund, to pay income tax refunds as they come due. Other items include a one-time $50 million payment to the West Virginia University Cancer Institute and $29 million to the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine in Lewisburg.

“The surplus section has become the way that we take the benefit of holding down our expenses, holding down our base budget, waiting till the fiscal year is over and then allocating dollars toward unmet needs,” Hardy said.

Find a more detailed listing of Fiscal Year 2023 surplus section spending here.

Another Inmate Dies In W.Va. Custody

A thus-far unnamed 30-year-old Mercer County man was found dead Friday morning by apparent suicide at the Southern Regional Jail, according to authorities with the Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

Another incarcerated person in West Virginia has passed away in custody.

Andy Malinoski, director of marketing and communications at the West Virginia Department of Commerce, said in an email to West Virginia Public Broadcasting that no additional information is available at this time as the incident is under investigation by the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Criminal Investigation Division.

“The West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation is committed to the safety, quality of life, and wellbeing of those in the care of the legal system in our state,” Malinoski said. “We empathize with the friends and families of those that have experienced the loss of a loved one that was placed in our care.”

There were 13 reported deaths at the Southern Regional Jail in 2022, and more than 100 deaths in the state’s regional jail system in the past decade.

Advocates claim in many of these cases, a person died shortly following their arrival, sometimes within 24 hours.

On March 10 the Poor People’s Campaign, held a rally called “West Virginia Mothers and Families Deserve Answers” on the front steps of the state capitol building alongside grieving families of incarcerated individuals.

Two of the 13 inmates that died last year were Quantez Burks and Alvis Shrewsbury. Their families attended the rally and spoke about their loved ones.

Just days after the protesters marched into the state capitol to hand deliver a petition to Gov. Jim Justice, family members of William Samples identified him as the latest death of an incarcerated individual in West Virginia jails on March 14.

During the rally, the Poor People’s Campaign called for a federal investigation into the ongoing deaths at West Virginia’s jails.

West Virginia State Police are investigating Samples’ death.

Locality Pay Moves Back To Legislative Front Burner

State employee shortages in critical positions like state police, corrections and health care are often acute in border counties, where neighboring states offer better pay.

Lawmakers with the interim Joint Standing Committee on Finance heard from Division of Personnel Director Chery Webb on Monday. She explained West Virginia has a limited geographical pay differential system already in place. She said agencies can explain their circumstances and apply for a pay differential approval.

“What the geographic pay differential allows you to do is to set the pay for a specific area for a specific classification based on data to address an issue that may be occurring in that area,” Webb said.

She gave an example of the Department of Veterans Assistance requesting a pay differential for the Barboursville Veterans Home.

“They were having a very hard time getting licensed practical nurses. It becomes challenging because Barboursville is competing with Huntington and with the state hospitals as well as the private ones,” Webb said. “Then, when you’re that close to the tri-state area, you’re competing with Kentucky and Ohio. You have to look at the salaries in those surrounding areas, and to see what an institution may need to offer to be able to get somebody hired in.”

Webb said most state agencies do not take advantage of requesting geographic pay differentials. She explained the challenges with the program are funding the pay hike, and concerns about how fellow employees will feel.

“Other employees are going to think, if I pay certain employees in this area, this amount, what about the employees that live over here? Will people move from over here to over here?” Webb said. “Sometimes that’s something that people have to take into consideration.”

Webb told lawmakers she has also discovered through her conversations with state agencies, it’s not always about money.

“Is it the environment in which they’re working in? There are people that want more work-life balance in this day and age,” Webb said. “Is there an opportunity that they want to have more of a say in the workforce, and they feel like they’re not having an opportunity to have meaningful work.”

Two bills to create locality pay either failed or were tabled and forgotten in the 2022 legislative general session. Eastern Panhandle lawmakers and Gov. Jim Justice are expected to push for locality pay in the upcoming 2023 general session.

Justice Announces Timeline To Complete Corrections Testing, RNC Unlikely To Come To W.Va.

This story was updated at 3:55 p.m. on June 3, 2020 to include additional comments by Gov. Jim Justice.

All inmates at West Virginia’s correctional facilities are set to be tested for the coronavirus by June 12, Gov. Jim Justice said at a virtual press conference Wednesday morning.

The system-wide testing comes after an outbreak at the Huttonsville Correctional Center, in Randolph County. As of Monday afternoon, there were 119 prisoners at Huttonsville and eight employees who had tested positive.

Justice said seven of the employees and 21 inmates have since recovered.

“Everything is moving in the direction that we want it to move,” Justice said.

He said testing was underway at additional facilities — three regional jails, two prisons and two juvenile centers — in the state’s two panhandles, with facilities in the Northern Panhandle expected to be fully tested Wednesday.

There are about 9,300 people incarcerated in state-run prisons and jails.

In the wide-ranging briefing, Justice also announced that beginning on June 10, all state and private park campgrounds would be open to out-of-state guests. The state is asking those guests to stay one week or less.

Meanwhile, another round of free COVID-19 testing was announced in Grant, Hampshire and Hardy counties for June 13. The testing will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the following EA Hawse Health Center locations:

Grant County: 64 Hospital Drive #5, Petersburg
Hampshire County: 22338 North Western Turnpike, Romney
Hardy County (three locations): 17978 WV 55, Baker; 8 Lee Street #127, Moorefield; and 106 Harold K. Michael Drive, Mathias

The effort is a part of a state-wide initiative to increase testing for minorities and other vulnerable populations disproportionately affected by the coronavirus.

Scott Adkins, acting commissioner of WorkForce West Virginia also provided an update at the news briefing. He said the agency has received 250,000 unemployment claims over the last 10 weeks — five times the number of claims the agency received in all of 2019 He noted that agency officials are still processing about 5 percent of claims.

National Convention Unlikely

During the press conference, Justice stepped out to take a phone call from President Donald Trump.

Justice said he recently extended an invitation to Trump and the Republican Party to consider moving the Republican National Conventionfrom North Carolina to West Virginia. The event is scheduled to be held in Charlotte, N.C., in August.

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper had expressed concerns about the influx of out-of-town visitors and the ability of a full-scale gathering to adhere to CDC guidelines to protect against the spread of the coronavirus.

During the Wednesday briefing, Justice characterized his decision to extend the invitation to host the RNC in West Virginia as a way to continue to put the state “on the radar” of the president.

“The reality is just this: It is such a long-shot, and it is just something that I will continue to do to market West Virginia, he said, adding “… It’s probably not going to become a reality.”

Later in the briefing, Justice said the call with the president was focused mostly on incidents of unrest across the country in response to the killing of unarmed black people by police. Justice praised West Virginia for holding largely peaceful protests and demonstrations.

He added that he believes his relationship with Trump ultimately benefits West Virignians.

“I wanted him to always know just how welcome he is in West Virginia. And any president, you know,” Justice said. “And we should absolutely welcome all — maybe not Barack Obama — but nevertheless, we’ll welcome any president.”

In a press release sent Wednesday afternoon, Justice said his comments about Obama were “in jest” and related to the Obama administration’s environmental policies.

“Everyone knows that President Obama made it a specific strategy to destroy our coal industry and power plants which, for more than a century, had been the lifeblood of West Virginia’s economy,” Justice stated.

Most industry analysts say low natural gas prices and the continued decline in cost of renewable energy are the main factors driving the decline of coal.

W.Va. Park Uses Inmates to Fill Jobs

Kanawha County parks officials have made up for a shortage of summer workers at Coonskin Park by using prison inmates.

The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports Parks Director Jeff Hutchinson told members of the Kanawha County Parks and Recreation Commission that 11 inmates from the Charleston Correctional Center began work at the park this week.

The inmates are cutting grass, trimming weeds, painting and doing maintenance. Hutchinson says all the inmates are non-violent offenders in the process of being released on parole.

Hutchinson made arrangements with the state Department of Corrections to provide part-time labor in the park after struggling with an ongoing problem getting and keeping workers. Inmates supply the work for free, in exchange for lunch.