For Immediate Release: September 12, 2023 Contact: Sara Whitaker, 304-610-6391 Charleston, WV – Since 2015, West Virginia prisons have sent more than $57.1 million out of state to pay for food served in its prisons. Privatizing prison food has resulted in poorer food quality and worse health outcomes. A 2022 class-action lawsuit filed against the Department of Corrections and…
Criminal Legal System
Since 2015, West Virginia prisons have sent more than $57.1 million out of state to pay for food served in its prisons. Privatizing prison food has resulted in poorer food quality and worse health outcomes. A 2022 class-action lawsuit filed against the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (DCR) alleged unconstitutional conditions of confinement, including the serving of…
New Report Examines the Fiscal and Opportunity Costs of Police Overtime in Charleston, West Virginia
For Immediate Release: August 31, 2023 Contact: Sara Whitaker, 304-610-6391 Charleston, WV – In March 2023, the Charleston City Council approved a $111.6 million budget for the 2024 fiscal year, with one-fifth, or $23.0 million, going to uniformed Charleston Police officers. Of that $23 million, $2.6 million was allocated for ballooning overtime pay. High overtime spending is not…
In March 2023, the Charleston City Council approved a $111.6 million budget for the 2024 fiscal year.[1] Once again, the city dedicated one-fifth of its budget ($23.0 million) to uniformed Charleston Police officers for wages, benefits, pensions, insurance, and equipment.[2] Of the $12.3 million budgeted for wages, $2.6 million was allocated for overtime pay.[3] Read…
This blog post was authored by Teri Castle, our 2023 Criminal Legal Reform Summer Research Fellow. One year after Governor Justice declared a state of emergency in West Virginia’s Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation (DCR), state government took action to address the agency’s high staff vacancies. This week, lawmakers passed a series of bills (SB…
This blog post was authored by Teri Castle, the 2023 Criminal Legal Reform Summer Research Fellow for the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy. Seventeen years ago, I was being held in Western Regional Jail, waiting to be transferred to Lakin Correctional Center. I had just been convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to…
West Virginia Public Broadcasting - West Virginia’s state prisons and jails are overcrowded and understaffed. Listen to the full segment. 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…
Public News Service, Clay County Free Press, Mountain Messenger - A new West Virginia law requires magistrates and judges to set a hearing within five days for people who've been arrested for not showing up to a court hearing, not paying fines on time, or not following civil-court rulings. Read the full article. The reform comes…
Huntington Herald-Dispatch - A law taking effect June 9 aims to help tackle the increasing number of capias arrests and reduce the state’s jail population. Read the full article. Passed in the 2023 legislative session, Senate Bill 633 establishes a uniform standard for addressing and streamlining capias arrests, also known as bench warrants, which have significantly increased…
Throughout the 2023 legislative session, lawmakers spoke often about the ongoing state of emergency in West Virginia jails. To them, the crisis was the record-high staff vacancies within the Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation (DCR). But people behind bars have been living in a state of emergency for years. In the last decade, West Virginia…