| Prison population to top 10,000 by 2017
by Justin D. Anderson
Daily Mail Capitol Reporter
dailymail.com
CHARLESTON, W.Va. - A new report predicts West Virginia's prison population will grow to a staggering 10,304 inmates by 2017 - an increase of about 4,300 over the course of a decade.
The number of inmates in the custody of the state Division of Corrections has grown from 2,517 in 1995 to 6,056 in 2007, according to a report by the West Virginia Criminal Justice Statistical Analysis Center.
The state corrections system has the capacity to house only 5,017 inmates. Additional prisoners are kept in regional jails until beds become available.
West Virginia is ranked 34th in the nation when it comes to its incarceration rate, at 333 inmates per 100,000 citizens, the report says.
But the state also has one of the fastest growing inmate populations. West Virginia was the only state to have an average annual growth of inmate population above 7 percent.
"There's no more room at the inn," said state Corrections Commissioner Jim Rubenstein. "Our facilities are full, the regional jails are full and sort of beyond. That's the urgency and the critical nature as we look at all of this."
Two state commissions are studying prison overcrowding. One was created in December by the state Supreme Court, and the other by an executive order by Gov. Joe Manchin last month.
Both groups are expected look at several factors. Proposals that have cropped up over the years include building a new prison - estimated at $200 million - or less expensive options, such as changing sentencing and parole guidelines and providing alternatives to prison for non-violent offenders.
While the new report shows more inmates are being granted parole these days, it also shows an increasing number of parolees being returned to prison on technical violations.
Nine years ago, of the total 1,278 inmates released from the state's custody, 25 percent were paroled.
In 2007, of the 2,623 released, 54 percent were paroled.
Between 2002 and 2007, the percentage of inmates granted parole jumped 19 percent. In 2002, only 33 percent of potential parolees were granted release. In 2007, that number was up to 52 percent.
But the report also says that in 2007, 483 parolees were returned to prison because of violations. That's three times the number returned a decade ago - 161.
The majority of those returned because of technical violations of the terms of their parole, not because they had committed a new crime, the report shows.
There also are an increasing number of non-violent offenders filling the prisons, although the state has taken steps to alleviate this by creating drug courts and day report centers.
In 2006, 75 percent of inmates sent to the state's prisons were convicted of non-violent offenses, such as burglary, theft, drug offenses or drunken driving. The report indicates this has been an ongoing trend in prison admissions.
The largest increase in the prison population over the period examined in the report was among drug offenders. In 2000, about 14 percent of all inmates were drug offenders. Six years later, nearly 24 percent were.
Inmates convicted of theft rose from 16 percent of the prison population in 2000 to about 22 percent in 2006.
Meanwhile, commitments based on drunken driving convictions declined over that time. In 2000, about 19 percent of inmates had DUI convictions. In 2006, only 5 percent of the population was being held for DUI.
The seven-member Supreme Court commission studying prison and jail conditions has no deadline to submit its report to the court, while the 12-member group formed by Manchin must report to the governor by July 1.
Manchin has yet to appoint all the members of his commission, though half are the heads of relevant state agencies. This commission grew from a summit of state officials on prison population held last year at Stonewall Jackson Resort.
The Supreme Court's commission stemmed from a 1999 lawsuit filed by a number of inmates who demanded they be transferred to a corrections facility from a jail. The inmates were being held in jails until bed space opened at a prison.
This is still a problem. Rubenstein estimated up to 1,200 state inmates are currently being housed in the state's 10 regional jails.
Contact writer Justin D. Anderson at jus...@dailymail.com or 304-348-4843.
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