Prisons Story Archives - Page 2 of 4 - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

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.

Jail Worker Crisis Highlights Legislative Interims

Testifying in recent committee meetings, corrections leaders described the state’s worst correction officer shortage in 30 years. They counted more than 1,000 open positions and vacancy rates reaching 70 percent in some facilities.

A full slate of legislative interim sessions begin this weekend. One of the biggest will look at addressing the crisis in state jails and prisons.

State corrections leaders will address the Legislative Oversight Committee on Regional Jail and Correctional Facility Authority Sunday afternoon.

Brad Douglas, executive officer, and William Marshall, commissioner for the Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation will report on current employee recruitment, retention and vacancy rates with the division. They will also make a presentation on the juvenile population in the Bureau of Juvenile Services.

Testifying in recent committee meetings, Douglas and Marshall described the state’s worst correction officer shortage in 30 years. They counted more than 1,000 open positions and vacancy rates reaching 70 percent in some facilities.

Committee member Del. Joey Garcia, D-Marion, said not correcting the vacancy crisis with proposed pay raises was the biggest failure of the recent legislative session.

“There’s been a number of reports and some type of federal investigation into deaths of inmates and two incidents of alleged violence or abuse,” Garcia said. ”I’ve seen more cages than I ever have, because they don’t have enough correctional officers to take people from one place to another within the jail. I’ve heard from clients about there being more prolonged lockdowns, again, because they don’t have the manpower.”

House Bill 2879 would have given correctional officers a $10,000 pay raise over three years. The bill called for an initial $5,000 raise, followed by $2,500 over the next two years. The current starting pay for West Virginia correctional officers is about $33,000 a year, markedly lower than comparable positions in neighboring states and federal holding facilities.

The bill passed the House Jails and Prisons Committee unanimously but died in the House Finance Committee. Garcia said the bill needs to be revived, with amendments.

“The pay raises also need to be extended to staff members who have stepped up and have gone into the prisons and done the jobs that many correctional officers do,” Garcia said. “I think they need to be included. There’s also that one time retention bonus, which would be about $5,000. For those officers and staff members, that can be a needed, one time payout.”

Gov. Jim Justice said in a March 15 media briefing that he has tried for two years to get correction officer pay raises. He said the legislature has to get off the bubble on this.

“Is the next alternative to say, ‘I’ll tell you what, let’s do. Let’s just don’t arrest anybody. And let’s just open the jails up and let everybody go,'” Justice said in the briefing. “You can’t blame people that can go right across the border to better themselves.”

Garcia said a special session needs to be called before the problems get even worse.

“If the governor won’t act, the legislature needs to, we can call ourselves in,” Garcia said. “And if the legislature won’t act, then the governor needs to do so, but we have to have some leadership on this issue.”

In a statement, Justice said he still agrees on pay raises and that the problem must be solved. So far though, there is no word on a special session.

Banning Books In Prisons On This West Virginia Morning

On this West Virginia Morning, news about book bans have been in the spotlight lately, but books are also being banned in prisons without much public attention. The Marshall Project, a nonprofit newsroom focused on the criminal justice system, published a searchable database of the books banned in 18 state prison systems. News Director Eric Douglas spoke with Andrew Calderon about the project and what it means in West Virginia prisons.

On this West Virginia Morning, news about book bans have been in the spotlight lately, but books are also being banned in prisons without much public attention.

The Marshall Project, a nonprofit newsroom focused on the criminal justice system, published a searchable database of the books banned in 18 state prison systems.

News Director Eric Douglas spoke with Andrew Calderon about the project and what it means in West Virginia prisons.

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 West Virginia University, Concord University, and Shepherd University.

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

Activists Call For Federal Investigation Into W.Va. Jail Deaths

Activists with the Poor People’s Campaign are calling for a federal investigation into West Virginia jails following a rise in the number of reported deaths.

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

During a virtual press conference Thursday, the campaign said it will ask the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division to investigate.

“Poverty, or a prison sentence, should not be a death sentence,” organization co-chair William Barber said. “Countless low income West Virginians of all races, Black and white and others, have died under the watch of the state prison jail system.”

A March 4 rally in Beckley and a March 10 rally at the capitol building in Charleston were also announced.

Barber said the organization is pushing for an investigation in part to hopefully spur the DOJ to address systemic issues at a national level.

“We don’t know how far it will go. But we know that the federal government has the power and the ability to expand wherever this investigation takes them,” Barber said. “And we certainly will endorse that as well.”

Two of the 13 inmates that died last year were Quantez Burks and Alvis Shrewsbury, whose family members spoke at the virtual conference.

Burks, 37, was arrested and charged with wanton endangerment and obstructing an officer on Feb. 28 and died less than 24 hours later on March 1 while in jail. After not hearing back from state officials with an initial autopsy, a second, private autopsy the family received in Pittsburgh reported Burks had died from a heart attack as a reaction to blunt force trauma and multiple broken bones.

“Because they didn’t get in touch with us, we just felt like there was probably some foul play in it,” said Quantez’s mother, Kimberly Burks. “So that’s really what made us decide to get that second autopsy.”

Shrewsbury’s daughter, Miranda Smith, said she found out her father, 45, had died in the jail 19 days after he was initially charged with a DUI.

“He was telling us that the other inmates in there, there were three in particular, that they were beating him for his food to take his tray during the meal times,” Smith said.

Last April, conditions at the Southern Regional Jail were investigated by the West Virginia Department of Homeland Security. The governor’s office previously said there was no basis to allegations that inmates had been deprived.

A federal class action lawsuit was also filed against the regional jail last September from current and former inmates, citing overcrowded conditions and a lack of access to water and food.

Economic Development And Challenges Of Re-Entry On This West Virginia Morning

On this West Virginia Morning, there are several ways to look at economic development in West Virginia. One is the traditional method of luring large corporations to the state, and another school of thought is to invest that money in poverty programs and to bring the poorest West Virginians up.

On this West Virginia Morning, there are several ways to look at economic development in West Virginia. One is the traditional method of luring large corporations to the state, and another school of thought is to invest that money in poverty programs and to bring the poorest West Virginians up.

In our latest episode of The Legislature Today, reporter Chris Schulz spoke with Mitch Carmichael, the Secretary of the West Virginia Department of Economic Development, and Rev. Mathew Watts from the Tuesday Morning Group, about possibilities.

Also, in this show, America’s prison system releases at least 95 percent of the men and women incarcerated when their sentences are finished. When they re-enter society, many struggle to navigate that freedom successfully. On the next Us & Them, host Trey Kay hears about the challenges of re-entry.

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 West Virginia University, Concord University, and Shepherd University.

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

Senate Finance Committee Quantifies Department Of Corrections Issues

Senators spent the first hour of what became a three hour Finance Committee meeting Tuesday night focusing on the budget of the Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation, which oversees the state’s prisons and jails.

The Senate Finance Committee met Tuesday night to hear budget presentations from the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Education.

Senators spent the first hour of what became a three hour meeting focusing on the budget of the Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation, which oversees the state’s prisons and jails.

Corrections have struggled since the pandemic to maintain employees, with more than 1,000 vacancies for correctional officers in the system and a state of emergency requiring National Guard intervention. During the presentation, it was reported that the National Guard’s role filling administrative positions to free up correctional officers is costing $500,000 per week, and will lead to a $6 million budgetary shortfall for the division this year.

In response to questioning, William Marshall, commissioner of the West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation, told Sen. Eric Nelson, R-Kanawha, it would take a pay raise of at least $10,000 for all correctional officers to make the position more attractive to future candidates.

“Easy math 4,000 [officers], $10,000 across the board. That’s a $40 million annual base builder,” Nelson said. “Pension benefits can be anywhere from 25 percent to 50 percent of compensation. If we were to potentially look at this correctly, would you agree that this is a $40 to $60 million base builder that we need to consider going forward?”

“You’re talking about not only base salary, but retirement?” Marshall replied. “Yes, I think a retirement plan would be very, very attractive. It’s hard. A lot of our officers we talked to, it’s hard to do that job forever.”

Marshall discussed the difficulty in retaining correctional officers not only because of the inherent risk of the job, but also because of competition from other correctional systems.

“We not only lose corrections officers to the federal system, but we also lose corrections officers to our bordering states as well,” Marshall said. “We lose a number of them to Maryland in the Eastern Panhandle quite often. They had a promotion about a year and a half ago, two years ago, with a $5,000 signing bonus and a $50,000 to $55,000 start pay.”

House Bill 2879, currently in the House’s Finance Committee, would provide existing correctional employees with three or more years of employment, a $6000 retention bonus and establish a $3000 sign-on bonus for new employees.

Marshall, with help from Executive Officer for the Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation Brad Douglas, explained to the senators that the state’s newest correctional facility, Lakin Correctional Center in Mason County, is already 20 years old. The oldest facility, Huttonsville Correctional Center in Randolph County, was built in 1938.

Marshall was appointed commissioner by Gov. Jim Justice two weeks ago.

Jeff Sandy, cabinet secretary for the Department of Homeland Security, fielded questions from Sen. Jason Barrett, R-Berkeley, about why there’s only $29 million in the governor’s budget to address the $200 million Corrections needs for deferred maintenance. Brian Arthur, assistant director of fiscal operations for administrative services, clarified that the $29 million is made up of $2 million that Corrections regularly receives for deferred maintenance, and a one-time allocation of $27 million to address a specific need.

“Senator, just so you’ll know, that $27 million is the locks which were broken as of late July of last year. So that does not replace every lock in corrections across the state,” Sandy said.

“What did your office request of the governor for deferred maintenance?” Barrett asked, seeking clarification.

“We have itemized what jobs need to be done: roofs, locks, etc. And the governor’s office makes the decision on what they feel the state could afford,” Sandy said.

“But you outlined that there’s $200 million in deferred maintenance?” Barrett continued.

“We have for six years sir,” Sandy said.