Report Recommends Changes for West Virginia

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Comprehensive changes are needed in the West Virginia prison system in order to avoid future prison construction, according to a recent report.

The report by the West Virginia Council of Churches and a Wheeling Jesuit University research group states that unless changes are made, the system will run out of capacity in the near future.

There are about 5,900 inmates housed in state prisons and the population is expected to reach 6,000 in 2008. The inmate population is expected to reach 7,000 by 2014, according to population projects.

The report recommends changing policies for nonviolent offenders and increasing the number of day reporting centers, which provide services and assistance for parolees.

Corrections leaders in the state agree with the report and say that as the inmate population increases, building more prisons is only a temp-orary fix for the problem.