County, delegate discuss jail
By PAMELA BRUSTPARKERSBURG - Short-term solutions for the local holding center and longer term plans for regional jails were topics for discussion Monday when the Wood County Commission met with Delegate John Ellem, R-Wood, who serves on the Interim Legislative Oversight Committee on Regional Jails and Correctional Facility Authority.
The holding center, which formerly served as the county jail, has about 20,000 square feet, when the county only needs about 4,000, according to architects. County officials have repeatedly said costs for heating and cooling the entire facility and related expenses continue to rise. The commission had proposed the West Virginia Division of Corrections purchase or lease/purchase the holding center for use as a state felon trusty holding facility (work camp). DOC officials visited the facility several times. Then in June county commissioners were notified the state was no longer interested in the facility, no specific reason was given for their dropping the matter. The letter from the state spurred Commissioner Rick Modesitt to contact DOC officials again. Following a recent phone conversation, Modesitt said although DOC officials did not detail reasons for rejecting the facility, he felt interest had been rekindled, and county officials are hopeful negotiations can be resumed.
"We have asked the commissioner to report back in two months about their needs in terms of prisons, the numbers of inmates are going through the roof. I believe almost 30 percent or more of those in the regional jails now are waiting transfer to the DOC. I would also like your help on a couple of projects. I am interested, as are you, in getting a trusty work camp here. I think it would be a real benefit to the area. The work camps also help lower incarceration time and help with prison overcrowding, these are inmates who go through a qualification process before they are selected to participate in a work camp facility. That would be something we could work on in the short-term," Ellem said.
"In the long-term, I think there's an opportunity coming up to come back and rethink the whole regional jail system. I made the comment at a recent meeting that I think took a lot of people by surprise, if we need additional DOC facilities, which we do, is there some way we could have DOC take over some or all the existing regional jails and go back to the drawing board in part or in full for the regional jails. The regional jail in Doddridge County (which serves Wood County) is almost an hour drive from here," Ellem said.
"This area is more suited for a regional jail, it was from the beginning," commission President Bob Tebay said.
Ellem said he didn't get an answer, but he would appreciate any support the county commission could provide.
"I think the whole regional jail system has been a boondoggle from the beginning; for us, because of the location, all the distance we have to go, the expense involved with gas and time it takes in travel," Tebay said.
"I think your proposal carries a lot of merit," Commissioner Rick Modesitt told the legislator. The commissioners unanimously agreed to send a letter of support for Ellem's concept to state DOC officials.
"We are getting in early in the game, let's jump on this and see if we can make this concept work, if the regional facility were closer it would mean jobs here too," Ellem said.
"The current holding center is just a lot more facility than we would ever need. Having a work camp here would also mean work crews that could work on highway projects, clean up, do work for charitable organizations," said Commissioner Blair Couch.
"Maybe if we could get all the parties back together. Turning this facility here over to the state would mean jobs, reducing our costs. We just never got past first base with them from my prospective, but we're very willing to negotiate," Modesitt said.
According to the West Virginia Regional Jail and Correctional Facility Authority's Web site the North Central Regional Jail opened in August of 2001. It is located off U.S. 50, approximately four miles from West Union. The facility was the eighth constructed out of ten regional jails. North Central along with the Western Regional Jail are the two largest jails in the state. The four pod building is designed to hold 400 inmates. North Central serves Wood, Monongalia, Marion, Harrison, Wirt, Tyler, Doddridge, Ritchie and Pleasants counties.
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WVCommissioner
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07-11-08 4:48 AM
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50 Jobs and 100 volunteer workers. Nah, Wood County doesn't need that.
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derbeobachter
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07-08-08 10:49 PM
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How about a open air market, or turn it over to the city Newell will see that it crumbles into dust soon enough
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vortex
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07-08-08 10:25 PM
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There are enough crooks in town, we don’t need anymore. Believe me we don’t need any part of the WV Dept. of Corrections in Wood County let alone downtown. St. Mary’s is too close. These guys need to get the dollar signs out of there eyes and do what’s best for Wood County.
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vortex
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07-08-08 9:50 PM
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Put the wrecking ball to it, get some of that money out of the bank and build something useful. Be sure Tebay gets his kick back.
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mrjustice
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07-08-08 5:51 PM
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heres a idea, tear it down that way everybody in county goverment will stop boo hooing about it
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tubaman
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07-08-08 1:53 PM
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Too much talk and too little action. String up some barbed wire and build a little work camp inside. We're not talking about elegant - we're talking about barracks like at the US Marine Corps basic training facility. Barbed wire, some razor wire on top, a few dogs and you're all set. Put the bums to work during the day.
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