Panel To Study WV Prison System
West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin is giving a special commission on inmate overcrowding until July 1 to provide initial recommendations on how to curb the problem.
West Virginia’s prisons are already overcrowded and population estimates suggest they will be busting at the seams by 2012. The state’s system has space for 5,300 inmates and projections say the population will grow by another 3,000 in four years. Earlier this week, lawmakers were told a new 1,200-bed state prison might be needed.
Manchin’s commission is the second such panel formed to look at West Virginia’s inmate population and criminal system. The state Supreme Court created a panel last month to determine if the court needs to reinsert itself into the state’s correctional system debate.