Huttonsville Correctional Center Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

W.Va. Corrections Finds 3 More Prisoners With COVID-19 Through State-Wide Jail, Prison Testing

Three more prisoners and one employee for the state Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation have tested positive for the coronavirus, as state officials continue collecting results from all incarcerated people in West Virginia.

At a virtual press briefing Friday, Gov. Jim Justice said the DCR had completed testing at least 15 facilities, collecting results from nearly 3,300 incarcerated people and more than 1,700 employees. The state was waiting on results from nearly 3,150 tests, as of Friday afternoon.

Data that same day around 3 p.m. showed there was still a lot more testing to complete at five jails, four prisons, and six out of 10 juvenile detention centers. Among 220 minors at DCR facilities, only about 90 tests had been conducted by Friday.

According to Justice, of the about 550 tests that have come back, the DCR reported two positive prisoners in the Eastern Panhandle — at the Eastern Regional Jail and the Martinsburg Correctional Center — and one positive prisoner at the Potomac Highlands Regional Jail in Hampshire County.

“This testing enables us to just do exactly what we ought to be doing,” Justice said. “We’re right on top of it. We’re protecting these people in every way, and absolutely, we’re able to shut it down before it just eats us alive.”

All of the three new prisoners who tested positive were not showing symptoms of COVID-19, according to the DCR, and are being isolated from other prisoners, according to guidelines from the federal government.

Anyone showing symptoms for the virus is treated by on-site medical staff, according to comments from DCR Commissioner Betsy Jividen during the Friday briefing. Prisoners from the same living quarters as those who have tested positive also are automatically quarantined.

Of the about 400 tests that have returned from employees, one worker tested positive and is recovering home. As for prisoners, most are quarantined according to each facility’s ability.

“The enhanced testing — and we’re catching the asymptomatic cases — that’s given us a whole new tool as far as separating inmates who are positive, from those who have not yet been tested, and from those who are negative,” Jividen said Friday.

The expanded testing comes after an outbreak at the Huttonsville Correctional Center, in Randolph County. As of Friday afternoon, there were 28 individuals at Huttonsville with the coronavirus and a little more than 90 recovered cases.

All correctional facilities statewide are set to be tested by June 12.

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.

COVID-19 Cases At Huttonsville Exceed 100; State Jails Again Over Capacity

Advocates are renewing calls to test and reduce the state’s incarcerated population, as its jails are once again overcrowded and more than 100 people have tested positive for the coronavirus in a state prison.

One of those advocates is Lida Shepherd, program director of the American Friends Service Committee, who is working on criminal justice reform in the state, along with West Virginia chapters of the ACLU, Americans for Prosperity and others.

“We think that it’s not hyperbole to say that a person who has not even been convicted of any crime could be facing a death sentence with the threat of COVID,” Shepherd said of the hundreds awaiting trial in state jails.

The population count in the state’s 10 regional jails dropped from 5,200 people on March 2 to almost 4,100 people on April 20. But numbers from the Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation show it was back up this week at more than 4,500.

That’s about 300 people over capacity, system-wide, with six out of 10 jails on Tuesday holding more people than their prescribed bed count.

The state’s 11 prisons were all under capacity on Wednesday. That includes the Huttonsville Correctional Center in Randolph County, where more than 100 people have tested positive for the coronavirus.

There were fewer people in jail earlier in the pandemic because police were making fewer arrests, more people were on parole and more low-risk, pre-trial defendants were released without cash bond. But now that in-person hearings have resumed and the Justice administration has eased social distancing guidelines, allowing law enforcement to take more people into custody, jail populations will only grow more and experience increased turnover, said Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation Commissioner Betsy Jividen.

During a Wednesday virtual press briefing, Jividen stated the DCR continues to review its protocols for testing as jails take on more people. She said the DCR is closely watching the Huttonsville prison in Randolph County, and how the virus has spread among the asymptomatic.

“It is going to instruct us on further operational ways to protect the population and in turn the community,” said Jividen, referring to the Huttonsville outbreak.

Gov. Jim Justice said during the same briefing he’d like to see the state test more than 9,300 people in the state’s custody, including the more than 4,700 people in state prisons, “as we continue to expand our testing capabilities.”

Corrections spokesman Lawrence Messina said Wednesday evening the DCR is “committed to carrying this out,” and continues to discuss resources and strategy with state health care leaders.

The governor confirmed last week that a 62-year-old man at Huttonsville was the first known prisoner in state custody to contract the coronavirus. Since then, the number of positive cases at Huttonsville has surpassed 100, with eight employees and 102 prisoners having tested positive by Wednesday afternoon. More than 300 tests were still processing in West Virginia labs.

It’s exactly what advocates say they worried about: people living in close quarters who might not be experiencing symptoms could infect each other, without the ability to stay at least six feet from other other people.

Through a statewide policy the DCR shared in April, facilities have enhanced cleaning procedures, Jividen said, and everyone is supposed to be provided with a mask. Further, in-person visitations have been canceled for now. The division has not posted policies developed by individual jails and prisons, for how they plan to enforce spacing requirements and mask-wearing.

“I think that there is still some inconsistency in terms of the precautions being taken in those facilities,” said attorney Jennifer Wagner from Mountain State Justice, which helped file legal action against the DCR for its handling of the pandemic in March. “But I think the really important thing to think about is that there is really no way for people to be able to maintain effective social distancing when they’re in a congregate setting. … The risk is never going to be zero, as long as we’re keeping people shoulder to shoulder in congregate settings.”

The roughly 1,030 people incarcerated at Huttonsville were all tested before Monday — plus about 30 people at the nearby work camp.

Outside Huttonsville, 43 tests were conducted total throughout the other 10 state prisons. In the state’s 10 regional jails, only a little over 90 tests have been conducted, according to data from the DCR provided Wednesday.

“This testing is going to have to be on a periodic basis, you know, because there is this turnover in facilities,” said Shepherd from the AFSC. “I think, inevitably, this isn’t going to be just a one-time thing. This is going to have to happen over time, while also doing everything we can to reduce the incarcerated population.”

Shepherd and others on a coalition for criminal justice reform have advocated for reduced jail and prison populations for the pandemic since March.

The group supports reducing the state’s traditionally overcrowded regional jails in general, even rallying behind a bill in the last legislative session for parole and bail reform for certain pre-trial defendants. That legislation is slated to take effect June 5, 2020.

Shortly before the governor’s press briefing, Randolph County Del. Cody Thompson, a Democrat, wrote the governor requesting statewide testing for all corrections staff and prisoners, stating concern specifically for Randolph County’s Tygart Regional Jail. That facility was nearly 80 people over capacity as of Wednesday.

Emily Allen is a Report for America corps member.

Coronavirus Count At Huttonsville Passes 70, With Hundreds Of Results Still Pending

Updated on May 26, 2020, at 10 p.m. with more recent data from the West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

Eighty-four people have tested positive for the coronavirus at the Huttonsville Correctional Center, as the West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation awaits hundreds more results from tests conducted Monday.

On Friday, the DCR reported 35 people at the state-run, Randolph County facility had tested positive for the virus, after all staff and about 40 prisoners were tested.

At that point, eight employees had tested positive and nearly half of the prisoners occupying a 43-bed dorm, housing the facility’s first known resident to contract the virus.

On Monday, DCR Commissioner Betsy Jividen said the West Virginia National Guard helped test 1,029 more prisoners from the correctional center and the nearby work camp.

After getting 40 results back from the labs Tuesday morning, Jividen said 12 had come back positive. By Tuesday evening, updated data from the DCR showed 76 prisoners had tested positive.

“We’re hoping that we will have the remaining tests back within the next several days,” Jividen said during a press briefing, of the hundreds of results that are still pending. “And we will plan our policy and our response accordingly.”

The Division of Corrections reported Tuesday evening that 990 prisoners from the Huttonsville Correctional Center and the work camp are in quarantine, while 656 test results were still pending. Spokesman Lawrence Messina from the Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety, which oversees the DCR, said Tuesday afternoon each facility identifies space in its building for quarantine and medical isolation.

“In the case of Huttonsville, the restricted movement between facilities and other proactive measures by DCR has reduced its population to below 90 percent of capacity,” Messina stated. “That has provided additional flexibility and options regarding quarantine and medical isolation housing.”

Emily Allen is a Report for America corps member.

W.Va. National Guard To Test All Huttonsville Prisoners, After 27 Test Positive For Coronavirus

At least 27 people incarcerated at the Huttonsville Correctional Center and eight employees have tested positive this week for the coronavirus, according to the Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety.

Due to this increase, Gov. Jim Justice is ordering the West Virginia National Guard to test all prisoners at the Randolph County facility.

Originally, Justice had only called on the Guard to test roughly 40 exposed prisoners, who had been living in the same unit as the first known positive case, and all Huttonsville staff. DMAPS said in a news release that employees were screening all roughly 1,030 prisoners at Huttonsville daily.

DMAPS confirmed 25 additional cases among prisoners Friday evening. The prisoners are in good condition and are in isolation at the facility.

Four more employees also tested positive, bringing that to a total of eight personnel who are recovering from home. So far, the Guard has tested 242 Huttonsville employees.

Through contact tracing and testing, the Guard has “established connections among several of the positive employees, and between that group and the initial inmate to test positive,” DMAPS stated.

The Guard will begin sanitizing efforts after identifying and isolating all the people who have tested positive at Huttonsville.

Emily Allen is a Report for America corps member.

Additional Staff Member, Inmate At Huttonsville Correctional Center Test Postive For Coronavirus

Updated Wednesday, May 20, 2020 at 4:30 p.m.

The head of West Virginia’s corrections system says more cases of the coronavirus have been found at Huttonsville Correctional Center in Randolph County.

Speaking at a virtual news briefing Wednesday, Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation commissioner Betsy Jividen said another staff member and another inmate at the Huttonsville Correctional Center have tested positive for the coronavirus.

“Both inmates were being isolated — quarantined — on Monday due to low grade fevers, and were caught through our process of medical screening that we’ve been using and continuing now in compliance with the CDC guidelines and in coordination and consultation with the Bureau of Public Health and the local health department,” Jividen said.

On Monday, the Division said they had discovered a part-time staff member at the Huttonsville Correctional Center had tested positive for the coronavirus. Gov. Jim Justice said Tuesday that state officials had identified the first case for an inmate at Huttonsville.

Later Tuesday, Justice’s general counsel, Brian Abraham told West Virginia Public Broadcasting that another guard was suspected to be positive with the virus but had not submitted to a test.

Abraham and a spokesman for the Division of Corrections did not immediately return an email Wednesday seeking clarification as to whether the second guard who tested positive was the same person who was suspected to have the virus.

Jividen said Wednesday that results are pending from additional testing at the facility — including 203 staff and 43 inmates who are housed in two different areas of where those who tested positive had been located. Testing at the facility was conducted with the help of the West Virginia National Guard.

“We will wait and look at these test results and then get the expert guidance from Dr. Marsh and the Bureau of Public Health and from state and local health authorities — and then proceed as they feel is best with respect to any more targeted or enhanced testing,” Jividen said.

As of Wednesday morning, the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources reports 69 deaths as a result of COVID-19. State health officials say they have confirmed 1,545 positive tests in the state.