Although violent crimes are on the decline, the population of West Virginia’s prisons is quickly outgrowing the capacity of the state’s facilities, according to Joe Thornton, deputy secretary of the West Virginia Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety, which is the agency that oversees the Division of Corrections.
Currently the state has room for 5,000 prisoners in state prisons. However, there are now 6,200 inmates who have been sentenced to terms in state prisons, Thornton said. That means there are 1,200 prisoners who should be confined to state prisons but are instead sitting in regional jails awaiting transfer to prisons when a bed opens up. “It’s a matter of perspective, but I think we’re at a crisis level right now,” Thornton said. “And now were running out of space in the regional jails, too.” And the problem is likely to get worse …
One of the possible solutions to the problem, and one that counties in the state are beginning to look at closely, is establishing drug courts. Drug courts are designed for non-violent offenders convicted of drug-related crimes, said Linda Richmond Artimez, director of mental hygiene for the West Virginia Supreme Court. A criminal is placed in the drug-court system by a judge and is required to undergo treatment for addiction, Artimez said. The goal is to get the offender to change their lives and stay out of the criminal-justice system. Five new drug courts will soon be operating … in Monongalia and Preston counties along with Pocahontas, Kanawha and Cabell, according to Artimez.
However
Marion County judges are not exploring establishing a drug court in Marion County in the near future and are instead looking into other alternative sentencing options. Marion County Circuit Court Judge Fred Fox pointed out that he and other judges are looking into establish a day-report center in conjunction with Preston County. A day-report center is an alternative sentencing program where released inmates, or offenders who have been referred into the program by a judge, report to an agency to receive intensive monitoring and counselin.
These are just excerpts from a long and interesting article in the Times West Virginian.
vericatrajkova Drug Treatment & Diversion, Early Release, Overcrowding, Regional Jail System, West Virginia
