52 WV correctional officers graduate, bringing total to 429 new recruits in 2024

State officials say that recruiting efforts, including increased pay scales for correctional officers, have helped decrease staff vacancies in facilities statewide. Most notably, 19 facilities are currently at a vacancy rate of 10% or below for correctional officers.

“It’s truly amazing to see so many West Virginians stepping up to serve in these important roles,� Gov. Jim Justice said Friday in a news release. “By improving pay and benefits, we’re not just filling positions, we’re bringing in talented and dedicated individuals who are passionate about making a difference. People are very proud to be a correctional officer in West Virginia.�

Back from the brink

Corrections staffing issues have been a persistent challenge in West Virginia, with the state facing a critical shortage of COs and non-uniformed staff. According to the Department of Commerce, in the fall of 2023, there were 1,007 vacancies across the state’s prisons, jails and juvenile centers.

The situation was severe enough that more than 300 West Virginia National Guard members began staffing facilities after Justice declared a state of emergency in August 2022. Those troops were pulled out of the state’s prisons in late May after Justice lifted the state of emergency.

To address the shortages, the Legislature approved — and Justice signed into law — a package of bills that allocated around $100 million to improve the jail system, including $21 million to increase salaries for correctional officers.

The state correctional system has been beset by overcrowding, in addition to understaffing, amid a long-term rise in the population in regional jails, which generally have served pretrial defendants and individuals sentenced to terms of one year or less.

There’s been a sharply rising death count at state-run jails. In 2023, 16 incarcerated people died in West Virginia regional jails, according to data the Gazette-Mail obtained from the state Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation through a Freedom of Information Act request.

The 2023 death count is a substantial decrease from the three-year average of 25 fatalities per year annually from 2020 through 2022. But the latest annual death total remains far above a previous five-year average of 11.2 deaths per year from 2015 through 2019.

‘Future of organization is bright’

Corrections officials on Friday were supportive of the new officers, and positive about their expected role in the communities served by the state’s prisons.

“We are confident that [the new officers] will carry forward our mission with integrity, professionalism and dedication,� said WVDCR Commissioner William Marshall in the news release. “The future of our organization is bright with these outstanding individuals joining our ranks.�

The WV DCR oversees West Virginia’s 11 prisons, 10 regional jails, 10 juvenile centers, 13 Parole Services Offices, 22 Youth Reporting Centers and three work-release sites.