STATE PRISONS OVERCROWDED, OFFICIAL SAYS

Long Sentences ADD To Problem, Commissioner Says

Lawmakers and corrections officials are worried that the state is locking
up inmates faster than it can provide space for them.

"If it's not a crisis, it could be very close to that," Corrections
Commissioner Jim Rubenstein said.

In a legislative interim committee meeting Sunday, he told lawmakers that a
study by George Washington University had predicted that West Virginia's
adult offender population could reach 4,935 by 2005 and it has already
passed the 4,400 mark.

During each of the first three months of this year, at least 190 inmates
were admitted to the prison system while 130 or fewer were released,
Rubenstein reported. He said the main problem seems to be the length of
sentences judges are giving to criminals, because the state parole board
releases inmates at a rate close to the national average.

"Even with good time, we have inmates that are serving long sentences,"
Rubenstein said.

In West Virginia, inmates can earn a day of "good time," which is time
taken off of their sentences, for each day served with good behavior. So a
five-year sentence could become a 2 1/2-year sentence.

Rubenstein expressed frustration at having to handle increasing numbers of
inmates. Sen. Jon Blair Hunter, D-Monongalia, said lawmakers feel the same way.

"We get all these inmates and what are we supposed to do?" he asked.

Steve Canterbury, executive director of the Regional Jail Authority, said
one solution could be to use more alternative, community-based sentencing,
such as home confinement and community service.

The Northern Panhandle is leading the way in its use, he said, and the
Eastern Panhandle is getting ready to try. Hancock and Brooke counties each
saved $250,000 to $300,000 a year that way, Canterbury said.

"Every county should be doing it," he said. "People are afraid they're
going to look soft on crime, but you got to be smart about crime."

Rubenstein said he also wants more funding to expand the St. Marys
Correctional Center. It is currently undergoing construction to allow it to
house an additional 96 inmates for a total of 416, but Rubenstein wants it
to be able to handle 716 inmates.

That would substantially reduce the burden to county and regional jails
that are holding a backlog of more that 800 state prisoners.

In his report, Canterbury said a bond sale in January was an overwhelming
success because the bonds were sold at 5.1 percent interest rather than the
target rate of 5.5 percent. That bond sale was used to pay off a loan from
the Public Employees Retirement System that had an interest rate
fluctuating between 7.2 percent and 7.9 percent.

The savings is being used to fund construction projects, including the
Tiger Morton Juvenile Detention Center, which is the replacement for the
old Kanawha Children's Home in Dunbar.

Asbestos removal is underway there, and the rest of the demolition of the
old facility should begin by the end of next week, Canterbury said.

Another bond sale is planned for August. Projects it would fund include
regional juvenile detention centers at Mount Hope, Barboursville and
Martinsburg, replacement of the Davis Correctional Center for Youth in
Tucker County and 140 additional cells at the Mount Olive Correctional Center.