CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Legislation adopted in the recent legislative session will create major reforms in the area of corrections at the state level.
House Bill 4338, which is expected to be signed into law this week by Gov. Jim Justice, will completely reorganize the program under the Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety. Jeff Sandy, the secretary of the agency, added the changes were long overdue and came after years of careful review.
“We will be combining the Department of Corrections, Regional Jail Authority, and Juvenile Services,” he explained in a recent appearance on MetroNews “Talkline.” “It will allow us to eliminate duplicated services, it will allow us to operate more efficiently, and it will allow us to take stress off the counties.”
The reorganization will help remove older juveniles who may be incarcerated in the same facility with younger, less mature individuals. The situation had become dangerous, but until the reorganization there was no way to legally separate those juvenile inmates if a problem had arisen. Sandy said now it’s possible.
It’s also possible, according to the Secretary, to make the jail per diem fee more stable and create a cost savings for counties who have long complained about the exploding cost of housing inmates in the Regional Jail system.
“This bill in the next three years, will reduce the Regional Jail cost to counties by approximately $28.2 Million,” explained Sandy. “We are going to absorb the true cost of the per diem for the counties.”
He noted the cost per inmate would be capped at $48.25. According to Sandy the true cost per inmate would have been $53.21 and with anticipated increases in the next three years, including the raise lawmakers approved for Corrections Officers, the cost would have been $59 per inmate. Sandy said a fee of that size would have crushed counties trying to keep it paid.
Another area where there will be improvement is inmate rehabilitation services. Until now, when an inmate was brought to the regional jail and in need of drug treatment, those services were largely limited to the prisons. Sandy noted the legislation makes the program more widely available to the entire corrections population.
“Immediately when someone is incarcerated in a Regional Jail they will be allowed to obtain drug rehabilitation services,” he explained. “Currently we have some of that, but most of it is contained in the corrections facilities.”
Sandy predicted the changes will help the agency become more efficient, more effective, and will now do a better job of serving and protecting the people of West Virginia.