Incarceration Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Preston County Prison Workers Get Pay Bump To Boost Retention

Employees at Federal Correctional Complex Hazelton who are in good standing will receive a 25 percent pay increase — part of an effort to boost staff retention and promote facility safety.

Personnel at a Preston County prison will soon receive a 25 percent pay increase, following union protests over understaffing last year.

The Federal Bureau of Prisons and the United States Office of Personnel Management approved the pay increase Thursday as part of an effort to increase staff retention at the Federal Correctional Complex Hazelton.

Staffing issues at the federal prison gained attention in 2018 following the deaths of three inmates in a seven-month span, including the murder of an inmate serving a life sentence.

Leadership changes following the incident improved staffing levels at the facility, according to corrections officer Justin Tarovisky, who also serves as union president of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 420 chapter.

Tarovisky’s union represents more than 600 workers at the facility, from West Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania, he said.

But the departure of some members of the facility’s leadership, coupled with the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic, exacerbated prior staffing issues to a new degree, Tarovisky said.

“Since that, we’ve drastically declined,” he said. In September, union representatives reported that more than 80 corrections officer positions were vacant.

Tarovisky said that understaffing in correctional facilities poses safety risks for current personnel.

“I mean, we’re a 24-hour operation. It’s not a job where you just leave at the end of the day, you go home, and you don’t have nobody there,” he said. “We have to have correctional officers at the facility to run a safe mission.”

To raise awareness about challenges to the facility, union workers lined a Monongalia County roadside last September, picketing with bright-colored signs demanding new hiring initiatives.

“We need hiring incentives to bring in new recruits,” Tarovisky said. “You have a lot of other law enforcement agencies within this country — whether it’s state police, whether it’s corrections in Pennsylvania — that … were offering higher incentives. So why would you want to come to Hazelton?”

Tarovisky said state officials were receptive to the union’s requests.

In November, Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., sent a letter to the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) urging the organization’s approval of a 25 percent retention incentive for staff at the facility.

“FCC Hazelton faces a dangerous staffing shortage that, while challenging, could be improved by providing current employees with a much-deserved pay increase,” he wrote in the letter.

After the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) published a report in February that the BOP failed to prevent the deaths of 14 inmates at the West Virginia facility in just eight years — the second-highest number in the nation — Manchin renewed his calls for federal intervention.

Other allegations disclosed in a 2023 DOJ report included the falsification of documents from supervisory staff at the facility; the usage of racial slurs and punitive housing restrictions from workers; and even the assault of inmates by facility staff.

Manchin said that understaffing exacerbated dangerous conditions like these in the facility. Likewise, Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., said that the 2023 DOJ findings suggested the facility was unable to provide a safe environment for inmates and workers.

Tarovisky credits calls from West Virginia’s senators, plus additional support from U.S. Rep. Alex Mooney, with pushing the pay increase forward.

“Unbelievable job, what they’ve done for the staff at Hazelton. This is what we’ve been asking for, and this is what they’ve been pressing on,” he said. “They put all politics aside to represent the people at FCC Hazelton.”

The pay raise will apply to all of the facility’s corrections officers who are currently in good standing. But it will also bump starting salaries at the facility up by 25 percent, which Tarovisky said will help make the facility more enticing in a competitive job market.

“That’s what’s so great about this,” he said. “Now, we can compete even higher with other agencies.”

Manchin applauded the new funding in a Thursday press release, adding that he hopes it will reduce safety risks in the prison.

“The facility has long suffered from severe staffing shortages, especially of correctional officers, that have resulted in a hostile environment for both employees and inmates,” he said. “This pay incentive is much-deserved for current employees and will help recruit new qualified officers and staff, which will promote safer conditions for employees and inmates.”

**Editor’s note: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that allegations of falsified documents and staff abuse came from a February 2024 Department of Justice report. They came from a September 2023 report. The story has been updated with the correction.

New Art Exhibit Reflects Loss From Recent Academic Cuts At WVU, This West Virginia Morning

On this West Virginia Morning, Education Reporter Chris Schulz sat down with WVU professor and owner of Morgantown art gallery Galactic Panther, Eli Pollard to discuss the exhibit and the impacts of the university’s cuts.

On this West Virginia Morning, West Virginia University (WVU) earlier this month affirmed its decision to cut 28 majors and more than 140 faculty positions. A new art exhibition titled “Deep Cuts” by university faculty, students and alumni reflects this loss.

Education Reporter Chris Schulz sat down with WVU professor and owner of Morgantown art gallery Galactic Panther, Eli Pollard to discuss the exhibit and the impacts of the university’s cuts.

Also, in this show, for people with mental health challenges, life can be complex. Add the trauma of incarceration, and they’re caught up in a system that’s not designed for treatment. Despite that, many people with mental illnesses are behind bars. Sometimes without support or medication.

On the latest episode of Us & Them, host Trey Kay hears the experiences of people who say the suicide watch cells and paper clothing designed to protect them while in jail, were instead humiliating. We listen to an excerpt from the episode.

West Virginia Morning is a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting which is solely responsible for its content.

Support for our news bureaus comes from Shepherd University.

Caroline MacGregor produced this episode.

Listen to West Virginia Morning weekdays at 7:43 a.m. on WVPB Radio or subscribe to the podcast and never miss an episode. #WVMorning

Us & Them: Who Gets Stuck Behind Bars In West Virginia?

West Virginia’s state prisons and jails are overcrowded and understaffed. About half of those incarcerated are there because they can’t make their bail. Many are poor and a disproportionate number are Black.

West Virginia’s state prisons and jails are overcrowded and understaffed.

Just over half of those who are incarcerated have not yet been found guilty of a crime, they’re in a cell because they can’t make their bail. Many of those people are poor and a disproportionate number are Black.

On this episode of Us & Them, host Trey Kay takes a look at what contributes to the racial disparities in our justice system. Black people make up about 3.5 percent of West Virginia’s population but 12 percent of the state’s incarcerated population. Why are people of color overrepresented in the criminal justice system?

Join Kay for a visit to arraignment court where the choices made early on play a critical role in how a case proceeds. Bail options are an important point where racial disparities can be on display and when a person’s freedom depends on their access to cash or property, some say Black West Virginians are disproportionately harmed.

This episode of Us & Them is presented with support from the West Virginia Humanities Council, the CRC Foundation and The Just Trust.

Subscribe to Us & Them on Apple Podcasts, NPR One, RadioPublic, Spotify, Stitcher and beyond.

Since an arraignment is the gateway to any West Virginia jail, *Us & Them* host Trey Kay decided to take a field trip to Magistrate Court in Kanawha County, West Virginia to meet with Magistrate Traci Strickland.

“Somebody’s present in day court every day from 8 a.m. until midnight,” Strickland told Kay. “For individuals who find themselves needing help with the court system or individuals who have found themselves under arrest, who come in for their initial appearance.”

She says several hundred come through in a 24-hour period.

“They can come to day court to request a domestic violence petition, to request a personal safety order for people who are under arrest. They come in to post bonds. They come in with tickets. They come in for a variety of things.”

*Credit: Trey Kay/West Virginia Public Broadcasting*

“Pretrial detention has been called the front door of mass incarceration,” says Sara Whitaker, who spent nine years as a public defender in Kanawha County, West Virginia.

“People who are jailed while they’re awaiting trial are more likely to be convicted, more likely to receive a jail or prison sentence upon conviction and more likely to receive a longer sentence than those who are not detained prior to trial,” Whitaker says. “In West Virginia, like in most places, whether you’re jailed prior to your trial or not depends on how much money or wealth you have.”

Whitaker is now a criminal legal policy analyst with the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy. She says bail options are some of the first points in the system where racial disparities can be on display.

*Credit: West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy*

Just a few years ago, West Virginia legislators debated proposals to lessen the load on the state’s overpopulated jails. In 2020, one of those proposals became law with bipartisan support in both chambers.

“I think it was mainly intended to cut down on the amount of pretrial misdemeanors that would be warehoused in a county jail simply because they don’t have money. But it didn’t do that,” says Del. Mike Pushkin, a Democrat who represents a large section of Charleston, with a district that’s about 30 percent Black.

He says the bill was intended to encourage magistrates to use more personal recognizance bonds. That’s when the bail is set at zero but a person has to promise to show up for their court date.

*Credit: Perry Bennett/WV Legislative Photography*

Back in February, 2020, when the West Virginia Legislature was debating a number of criminal justice reform bills, this radio ad from Mike Stuart was airing across the state. Stuart was then a U.S. Attorney who says he felt compelled to run what he calls public service announcements to criticize the bail reform measure. Today, Mike Stuart is a Republican state senator representing West Virginia’s 7th district. It’s a rural part of the state, and 96 percent white. He recently announced his candidacy for attorney general. Stuart says he hasn’t seen enough data on the bail reform’s effectiveness, but he’s wary of what he calls a “revolving door” approach to criminal justice.

Mike Stuart is a Republican state senator representing West Virginia’s 7th district. He’s pictured here with *Us & Them* host Trey Kay.

“My solution to prison overcrowding. Build another prison,” Stuart explained to Kay. “If you’ve committed a crime that’s worthy of incarceration, you should be serving your time. I believe in second chances and redemption and I believe you get there. Part of the criminal justice system is punishment. It’s punishment. It’s not all about rehabilitation. There’s a proper role for rehabilitation. But punishment is part of the role, too.”

*Credit: Trey Kay/West Virginia Public Broadcasting*

Kenny Matthews is quite familiar with West Virginia’s legal system.

He’s originally from Chicago, but back in 2011, he was arrested on drug charges and spent several years incarcerated. About 18 months of his time behind bars was in pre-trial detention. He was there because he was unable to make bail. He had his pretrial hearings and then waited for his trial in West Virginia’s Northern Central Regional Jail.

These days, Matthews works with the American Friends Service Committee as a lobbyist and spends multiple hours during the state’s legislative session speaking to delegates and senators about criminal justice, economic justice and recovery related issues.

“This past legislative session, I almost lived up here and just was talking to senators, delegates, other organizations that had lobbying efforts here at the capitol and were able to get some good bills passed. Some not so good bills killed, and also were able to have some amendments to some bad bills to make them better.”

One of those bills was House Bill 633, on capias reform. Matthews worked with several legislators, including Sen. Mike Stuart.

*Credit: Trey Kay/West Virginia Public Broadcasting*

W.Va. Lower Than National Average For Prison Incarcerations

The numbers of people on parole are swelling in some states, leading to more people going to jail. But the number of people in the system in West Virginia is on the low end compared to the national average.

A new report from the Prison Policy Initiative shows that approximately one out of every 90 people in the United States are in the legal system — either incarcerated or on probation or parole. And the numbers of people on parole are swelling in some states, leading to more people going to jail.

But the number of people in the system in West Virginia is on the low end compared to the national average.

News Director Eric Douglas spoke with Wanda Bertram, the group’s communication strategist, about the report.

This interview has been lightly edited for clarity.

Douglas: What’s the big finding from the report in general?

Bertram: We’re taking data from different reports that the government has put out that show the number of people in every state who are in prison, in a local jail, on probation, or on parole. And we put that together into graphics that apply to every state. The reason we did this is because you would think that those numbers would already exist, but all this data is coming from different places. And so there’s not really a clear picture that people can get of how many people are caught up in the criminal justice system. That matters, because even though we think about probation and parole as sort of different from incarceration, those systems drive 42 percent of prison admissions every year. So over 40 percent of people who go to prison every year, they’re coming to prison from being supervised.

*Courtesy of the Prison Policy Initiative*.

Douglas: So somebody has violated their parole, or they violated their terms of probation, and then they’re being sent back to or being sent to prison out of that?

Bertram: It’s people who have either committed a new crime, and they’re being sent to prison on a new conviction, or they have simply committed a violation with what we call a technical violation, which is where you do something that normally would not be a crime, but because the judge has told you, “don’t do that while you’re on supervision,” it can get you sent back to prison.

The majority of returns to incarceration of people on probation and parole are for these technical violations. These are often things that are very minor activities. Say you are given probation instead of incarceration — this is your first conviction. But one of the terms of your probation is that you have to complete a drug treatment class. Say you don’t show up to a couple meetings. That can get you re-incarcerated. Say, one of the terms of your probation is you have to maintain employment, but you get let go from your job. That, theoretically, can get you locked up again.

I’d say an overwhelming majority of the time, one of the conditions of probation and parole is that you have to pay some regular fees. You actually have to pay administrative fees for the cost of your own supervision. So if you fall behind in paying fees, you can end up behind bars for that. What some people might notice is that these conditions can sometimes get in the way of each other, right? If you have to maintain employment so that you can pay a bunch of fines and fees, but you also have to go to regular classes, and have regular meetings with your supervision officer, which may conflict with your employment — it’s going to be hard to do all those things at once.

You have people that end up behind bars, because they just couldn’t maintain all of these conditions. In fact, there are a lot of people that say, if I’m facing a conviction, and it’s between a short stint in prison, and a stint on probation, I would rather be in prison.

Douglas: Where do things stand? What are some of the numbers?

Bertram: The reason that we did this report, or one of the reasons we did this report, is that there are quite a lot of states, particularly liberal states, that have some low incarceration rates, and they go, “Okay, we fixed the problem of a large prison system,” when in reality, when you look at the number of people who are on supervision in those states, or when you look at the total number of people under correctional control in prison or jail, or on probation or on parole, the numbers go way up. And that’s important, because some of these probation and parole programs are really just serving to drive people into the prison system by putting them under surveillance and then violating them for some minor activity and using that as an excuse to throw them in prison.

Douglas: Let’s talk about West Virginia for a minute. What did you see when you looked at West Virginia?

Bertram: West Virginia actually has one of the lower total rates of correctional control of all the states that we looked at. If you’re looking at the total number of people incarcerated and supervised, West Virginia is, per capita, punishing fewer people than some of its neighbors like Virginia or Kentucky.

Douglas: In your report it said West Virginia confines youth at one of the highest rates in the country? What’s that all about?

Bertram: What we know is over the last 10 years, youth confinement in the U.S. has dropped dramatically. Actually, there were six states, although I couldn’t tell you what they are off the top of my head, that stopped incarcerating youth entirely during the years of the pandemic. So when we say it has one of the highest rates of youth incarceration in the country, the context is that there are many states that are no longer putting any youth in detention facilities at all.

States are looking at different ways of handling young people who are truant, or commit crimes — solutions that you can pursue in the community or ways of resisting arresting and incarcerating so many young people. So that’s certainly an area where West Virginia could still move forward.

Douglas: So we’re not 10 times higher than everybody else, because we’re just locking up all of our kids, but because so many other states have dramatically reduced their numbers. What else can you tell me about West Virginia?

Bertram: Well, I do want to go back to a question that you asked a couple minutes ago about what the data shows us about correctional control rates and punishment rates in West Virginia. And just to point something out, which is, if you look at every state’s prison and jail, parole and probation, what you’ll see is that there are many states that appear to be a lot better on incarceration rates. Then when you add in probation and parole, they look a lot worse.

Connecticut, for instance, you compare West Virginia with Connecticut, they have relatively similar incarceration rates. But Connecticut, when you add in probation, you add in local jails, you add in parole, and all of a sudden, you have a much, much higher rate than West Virginia, because Connecticut is putting so many people on probation right now. We’re actually going to release an analysis about Connecticut where we show that there are many people under supervision in that state who don’t need to be.

So, part of the purpose of our report is to call out some of these states that have a tendency to think of themselves as really good or really progressive on criminal justice, when in reality they are putting a lot of their residents under forms of punishment that are, while not incarceration, still extremely difficult.

Council Tours W.Va. With Compassion Message For People Released From Incarceration

About seven years ago, the West Virginia Council of Churches created the West Virginia Reentry Council to help people navigate the probationary system while juggling everyday responsibilities.

In the middle of a large open room, students, professors and professionals that work with the formerly incarcerated population sit in chairs. They read their “life card,” which contains tasks and responsibilities the participant must complete each week.

Jessica Lilly

WVPB

Participants of a reentry simulations sit in the middle of an open room at Concord University.

The 15 minute exercise will represent one week in the life of a newly released person to help participants better understand the pressures of reentry. With a few other instructions, the facilitator starts the timer and the activity begins.

“I need money to complete all of these tasks,” Heather Gregory, Administrative Assistant, with The REACH Initiative said.

Jessica Lilly

WVPB

Heather Gregory, Administrative Assistant with The REACH Initiative is asking for help at one of the simulation tables.

The REACH Initiative is a new program with West Virginia Reentry Councils.

Gregory is going through the simulation for the first time. The idea is to navigate keeping a job and eating while in the judicial system. Other tables have signs hanging from the front that read words like “Grocery Store,” “Court” or “Treatment.”

Standing at the table working a puzzle for seven minutes simulates a week of work. The representative at the station marks Gregory’s “life card.” After work, Gregory finds treatment and a drug screen on her card.

“She failed her drug screen for illicit drugs,” a woman behind the “drug screen” table says. “She’ll go see her probation officer.”

While at the “drug screen table,” she mentions the old warrant listed on her life card. The drug screen officials notify police, and Gregory is taken to jail.

One out of every 10 West Virginia children have a parent who has been incarcerated. As the adults navigate life after prison, the odds are stacked against them. About seven years ago, the West Virginia Council of Churches created the West Virginia Reentry Council to help people navigate the probationary system while juggling everyday responsibilities.

Beverly Sharp formed the first Reentry Council in the state shortly after she retired from the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

Jessica Lilly

WVPB

Tables line the edge of the large room with signs to simulate locations and activities that need to be completed by participants.

“During those 30 years I would often see inmates come back over and over and over again. I would talk to them and say, ‘What are you thinking?’ and they would say, ‘You just don’t understand. It’s not meant for us to make it out there.’ I was like, ‘Yeah, all right,” Sharp said. “When you hear that a couple of times, you kind of think it’s the person. When you hear that hundreds and hundreds of times over your career, you start thinking wow, there has to be something to this.”

The first council opened in Charleston. Next, councils opened in Huntington, Parkersburg, Beckley and in Martinsburg. There are currently 22 reentry councils across the state. The resources are meant to help those coming out of jail to overcome barriers and become productive citizens.

“Think about your lifetime. What’s the worst mistake you’ve ever made. And how would you like to be identified by that mistake every day in everything that you do,” Sharp said. “That’s what happens once you have a criminal record. You’re forever treated like a second class citizen. You go for housing, and you fill out the application. And one of the first questions is, do you have a criminal record? Or have you ever been convicted of a felony? Or have you ever committed a crime?”

Jessica Lilly

WVPB

Participants stand in line to “visit” their probation officer as part of the simulation.

While the simulation illustrates everyday life challenges, there are federal and state specific barriers that limit the types of jobs convicted felons by law are allowed to obtain. Limitations are put on jobs in the medical field, social work and more.

“You look at social work, who better to be a social worker, than somebody that has walked that journey themselves and understands what those barriers are, and how to navigate those barriers,” Sharp said. “That’s what we try to do through the reentry councils, is we try to educate these community partners, and help them understand how to help individuals navigate through all those collateral consequences and barriers that they have. Because it’s much safer for the public, if we do that, because if you take away housing and you take away employment, you leave somebody no other choice than to commit a crime.”

“We’ve all made mistakes, we should look at that individual as a human being, as somebody that we should reach out to in love,” Sharp said. “You know, maybe take the time to talk to them and find out how [they ended] up where [they] are. Because when you start listening to these stories…you will start to understand how we ended up to be the most incarcerated nation in the world with the highest recidivism rate because of all the challenges that people face, and the inability to overcome those challenges.”

Jessica Lilly

WVPB

The majority of the participants ended up back in jail by the end of the simulation.

Most participants in the reentry simulation end up in jail. During the simulation, when participants successfully completed a week or even the entire “life card,” participants learned that just one act of kindness made a huge impact; a message organizers hope informs any future social workers, police officers and probation officers.

The program suggests eight fundamental needs for a successful reentry; transportation, amenities such as food and clothing, financial resources, documentation, housing, employment, healthcare, and support system. The United States has the highest rate of incarcerations in the world, while West Virginia’s rate is even higher.

Jessica Lilly

WVPB

During the simulation, when participants successfully completed a week or even the entire “life card,” organizers pointed out that just one act of kindness made a huge impact; a message they hope informs any future social workers, police officers and probation officers.

A reentry event is scheduled for May 18 at the Embassy Suites in Charleston.

Us & Them Explores Juvenile Justice Divides

Every year West Virginia children are taken into state custody. Sometimes, a case involves parental neglect or drug abuse. Other times, kids commit crimes and are placed in juvenile residential facilities.

The juvenile justice programs and agencies have been under a spotlight over the past decade — partly because West Virginia has had one of the highest rates of juvenile incarceration in the country. Lawmakers have passed bills to reform the system but the outcome is mixed.

Meanwhile, juvenile incarceration means the system makes decisions for kids — and those changes can last a lifetime.

This episode of Us & Them is presented with support from the West Virginia Humanities Council and the CRC Foundation.

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