Prison News | West Virginia

• Education & Rehabilitation
• Executions, Death Row, & the Death Penalty
• Gangs in Prison
• Health & Medical Treatment
• Prison Classification, Placement, and Release
• Prison Conditions & Corruption
• Prison Life & Prison Culture
• Riots, Lockdowns & Escapes
• Suicides in Prison
• Workplace & Industry News and Science & Tech

Education & Rehabilitation

Executions, Death Row & the Death Penalty

Gangs in Prison

Health & Medical Treatment

• �Pandemic of addiction� fills jails; Drug convictions responsible for Putnam County's rising prison costs
  
  WINFIELD - Before West Virginia's prison overcrowding bill passed in April, Mark Sorsaia and other prosecuting attorneys from around the state gathered in Charleston to discuss the implications of the law.... [ more ]
  Charleston Gazette, Friday, July 19, 2013
  
  

Prison Classification, Placement, & Release

• Proposal to house inmates in Ky. on �back burner�
  
  CHARLESTON, W.Va. — With inmate populations trending downward, and with opportunities for several new in-state facilities, a proposal to house state prisoners at a private, for-profit prison in Kentucky is no longer a priority, West Virginia’s corrections commissioner told legislators Monday.... [ more ]
  Charleston Gazette, Tuesday, October 21, 2014
  
  
• Counties to meet, discuss concerns Kanawha is only one to opt out of association; conference to focus on jail costs, Affordable Care Act
  
  Representatives from every county in West Virginia will convene at Stonewall Resort in Lewis County next week for the annual meeting of the County Commissioners' Association of West Virginia.... [ more ]
  Charleston Gazette, Thursday, August 1, 2013
  
  
• Adult prison opening delayed State says it cannot move older offenders into Salem facility until all juveniles are relocated
  
  The state is further delaying opening an adult prison facility in Salem until it is able to find a new home for youth offenders currently housed on the same property.... [ more ]
  Charleston Gazette, Wednesday, July 17, 2013
  
  

Prison Conditions & Corruption

• Inmate Lawsuit: Guards Stood by or Helped Facilitate Attack
  
  CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A black West Virginia inmate says in a federal lawsuit that he was attacked by a member of the white supremacist Aryan Brotherhood while state prison guards either did nothing or helped facilitate the assault.... [ more ]
  US News, Monday, January 6, 2020
  
  
• Low pay and understaffing create safety concerns at W.Va. prisons
  
  CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) - Low pay, understaffing and overcrowding are creating safety concerns at West Virginia's prisons. Media outlets report that union and corrections officials discussed the issues Monday during an interim legislative ...... [ more ]
  Associated Press, Tuesday, July 23, 2013
  
  
• Claims at prisons, jails cost millions Lawsuits alleging sexual misconduct at state corrections facilities on rise
  
  West Virginia spent nearly $12 million over the last decade in court costs, lawyer fees and settlement monies for sexual misconduct claims at prisons and regional jails.... [ more ]
  Charleston Gazette, Monday, June 24, 2013
  
  

Prison Life & Culture

Riots, Lockdowns & Escapes

• Drones to make appearance at W.Va. mock prison riot exercise
  
  MOUNDSVILLE, W.Va. (AP) - For the first time in its 18-year history, the Mock Prison Riot in Moundsville will feature drones flying overhead.... [ more ]
  Associated Press, Friday, February 28, 2014
  
  

Suicides in Prison

Workplace & Industry News, and Science & Tech News

• Our views: Making prison safer likely will save money Legislators should eliminate 16-hour shifts for tired guards
  
  Because of low pay, the state has difficulty attracting qualified people to work in the state's prisons. A reduced work force leads to 16-hour days for the prison guards on duty.... [ more ]
  Charleston Gazette, Wednesday, July 24, 2013
  
  
• STATE PRISONS Biggest safety threat is officers� low pay, legislators are told Small wages contribute to the high turnover
  
  Low pay - contributing to high turnover rates and mandatory overtime - is the single biggest safety threat for correctional officers in state prisons, legislators were advised Monday.... [ more ]
  Charleston Gazette, Tuesday, July 23, 2013