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Sen. Walt Helmick, the chairman of the state Senate Finance Committee says the state needs to build one or two new state prisons.
Helmick (D-Pocahontas) says he's watched the inmate numbers for the past few years, with the state consistently 12-hundred beds short in its current set-up.
Many of those prisoners are now housed in the state's Regional Jails.
Helmick told state Corrections Commissioner Jim Rubenstein yesterday that it's time to "start the educational process for the people of West Virginia" and explain to them why the prisons are needed.
Chairman Helmick says if the state is going to continue putting just about every criminal behind bars then there's no doubt new prisons will be needed.
Additionally, a study shows the inmate population in West Virginia is expected to grow by another 12-hundred inmates in the next four years.
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