Division of Corrections and Rehabilitaton Story Archives

Jail, Prison National Guard Fill-In Worker Drawdown Beginning

Details are emerging on the plan to draw down National Guard members from their emergency work in correctional facilities around the state.

Since Gov. Jim Justice declared a State of Emergency in August 2022, hundreds of National Guard members have filled non-inmate contact posts in what was then the state’s vastly under-staffed jails and prisons. In October 2023, Corrections Commissioner William Marshall said there were between 330 and 340 Guard members filling in.

With more than 270 new jail guard recruits on-board since last October, the National Guard and the Division of Corrections and Rehabilitations said they now have ten facilities where the National Guard presence will be reduced in steps.

The National Guard, Corrections and Justice all said the goal is to have all guard members out of jail and prison work by the end of Summer 2024.

Justice first announced the drawdown in his State of the State address Wednesday. In his weekly briefing on Friday, he talked about the new corrections hires coming on.

“We are aggressively recruiting folks to be able to put them in positions,” Justice said. “People that are qualified in every way. With the pay raises and everything, we’ve got a real leg up to be able to get there as far as hiring the correctional officers.”

In a press release detailing the transition period, Human Resources staff are on site to assist any National Guard member showing a desire for long-term employment with the Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

The release said more than 40 National Guard members have expressed an interest in applying for Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation positions. Eight National Guard members have already secured employment during this transition.

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Correction Staffing Concerns Continue For State Facilities

There are currently 1,027 vacancies in the Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation, according to a presentation Tuesday.

There are currently 1,027 vacancies in the Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation, according to a presentation Tuesday by Brad Douglas, the agency’s acting commissioner, to the Legislative Oversight Committee on Regional Jail and Correctional Facility Authority.

That adds up to a 33 percent vacancy rate for officers and a 27 percent vacancy rate overall.

“I’ve got a little bit of hope that is slowing down a bit,” he said. Since the implementation of our $1,000 incentive, we’ve paid that out 45 times. So 45 officer hires in a month and a half to two month period is pretty good.”

In contrast to the overall numbers, Douglas said some of the regional jails have a 60 to 70 percent vacancy rate.

“So, even though we definitely have some facilities that stick out with extremely high correctional officer vacancy rates,” he said, “the rest of them are not necessarily in a good place. So I want to highlight that for the committee.”

Committee Co-Chair Del. David Kelly, R-Tyler, asked Douglas about the program to use members of the West Virginia National Guard in correctional facilities, following an order by Gov. Jim Justice last August.

“We now have over 300 Guard members coming in to help us,” Douglas said. “It’s just been a huge benefit and boon to our agency. We gave staff a break where we could and we’re very thankful for their assistance.”

Guard members work only in non-inmate contact positions in the jail. He explained they patrol the jail perimeter and the front gate, for example. He said the current jail population is approximately 4,700 inmates which he noted is easier to manage than 5,500 where it has been.

Kelly expressed concerns about the program, however.

“I think it’s important for the government to note this, I think it’s important for members of this body, I think it’s important for the people of West Virginia, to know that it is not sustainable to expect the National Guard to remain in our jails,” Kelly said. “Am I correct with that statement?”

Douglas agreed with Kelly saying the program was always designed to be a short-term solution.

W.Va. Corrections Division Admits Error Led To Political Attack Ad

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — It was a textbook campaign ad, red meat for a tough race — a killer freed, a governor to blame and his Republican challenger promising to keep everyone safe.

But just hours after it aired, West Virginia corrections officials disputed the facts behind gubernatorial hopeful Woody Thrasher’s latest attack on Gov. Jim Justice, and admitted they’re responsible for the error.

The ad debuted Monday morning, criticizing Justice for releasing a convicted murderer as part of a deal to parole dozens of inmates during the coronavirus pandemic.

“Justice didn’t even check on who he let out,” Thrasher said in the advertisement, which was based on information from a Freedom of Information Act request filed with the state.

By Monday afternoon, the state corrections department said it had mistakenly listed the man among those released under the deal. Instead, the agency said he was actually let out for unrelated reasons, after doing his time and then serving 60 days for an alleged probation violation.

Thrasher has been highly critical of the Republican governor in the lead up to the June 9 primary election. He previously was Justice’s commerce secretary but resigned after numerous complaints about poor management of a program he oversaw, to provide housing assistance for victims of a devastating flood in 2016.

The parolee, 35-year-old Michael David Day, was convicted of killing a homeless Vietnam veteran when he was teenager. He was sentenced to life in prison but was paroled in 2017 after a U.S. Supreme Court decision ruled it unconstitutional for juveniles to receive mandatory life sentences. Day was jailed again in January on an alleged probation violation and released March 27.

The headline to this story was updated at 12 p.m. on Wednesday, May 6, to more accurately reflect which state agency was responsible for the error.