Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation Commissioner David Kelly presented his first briefing to lawmakers Tuesday on the state of West Virginia’s correctional system. (Photo Courtesy/WV Legislative Photography)

CHARLESTON — As a former lawmaker, David Kelly once was the co-chairman of the Legislative Oversight Committee on Regional Jail and Correctional Facility Authority.

But as the recently-appointed commissioner of the West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Kelly was on the other side of the podium for the first time.

Kelly provided committee members Tuesday morning with a status update of the Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation (DCR) since being appointed as commissioner by Gov. Patrick Morrisey in June, succeeding acting DCR commissioner Lance Yardley following the appointment by President Donald Trump of former DCR commissioner William “Billy” Marshall III to lead the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

“I walked into the central office on June 16 not knowing what I should expect,” Kelly said. “What I experienced was a version of professionalism that I had never seen in my life. Within minutes, I realized that I was in the presence of some great people.”

Kelly, a former two-term sheriff of Pleasants County with more than 20 years of law enforcement experience, also served as a member of the Tyler County Commission, took office as a member of the House of Delegates representing parts of Tyler, Wetzel, and Doddridge counties. He was re-elected in 2020, 2022 and 2024. He also served earlier this year as a co-deputy speaker of the House.

During his time in the House, Kelly worked on issues of correctional officer and staff vacancies within the state’s system of 11 prisons, 10 regional jails, 10 juvenile centers and three work-release sites. The vacancy issue caused former governor Jim Justice to issue his second state of emergency for DCR.

At one point, the statewide vacancy rate for correctional officers was more than 30%, with some individual facilities having officer vacancy rates higher than 60%. The West Virginia National Guard was brought in – along with some officers from the Division of Natural Resources – to assist DCR with staffing shortages, providing services with no direct interaction with inmates. More than 350 National Guard members were in state prisons and jails, with approximately $30 million spent for these deployments.

In the summer of 2023, Justice signed six corrections bills following a special session providing $21.1 million to increase the starting pay and change pay scales for correctional officers; and bills providing nearly $6 million for one-time bonuses for support staff in the correctional system. DCR also received $60 million in funding for deferred maintenance projects at jails and prisons.

Kelly told committee members that his mission for DCR includes strengthening facilities, supporting enhanced rehabilitation, and providing support for public safety. Cleanliness and maintenance of correctional facilities are his top priority, and he is in the process of touring all state correctional facilities, including the Stephens Correctional Facility in McDowell County, which was transferred to the state by legislation earlier this year. That facility is scheduled to be open by the beginning of 2026.

While vacancies of uniformed correctional officers and non-uniformed personnel have been greatly reduced, Kelly said vacancies remain an issue to be monitored. As of July, there were 410 vacancies of uniformed and non-uniformed personnel, with 223 vacancies of correctional officers across all facilities. Non-uniformed staff also did not get raises last year, which Kelly said are needed.

“Salaries remain a big detriment to (recruitment),” Kelly said. “The pay is critical. If they get a raise, it would certainly help…We’ve, in fact, had some non-uniformed personnel transfer over to uniformed personnel simply because they got paid better.”

Kelly said that DCR is training 50 new correctional officers every six weeks at the state correctional academy. In order to cut down on training new officers only to see them quit or take out-of-state correctional jobs, Kelly said new correctional officer recruits are given time in a facility with training officers before heading to the academy so they can see what the job entails.

There have been 1,000 newly trained correctional officers since January 2024. DCR is working on a report to track how many of those new officers have been retained.

According to Kelly, there are 13,704 incarcerated individuals in the state correctional system. Kelly said a focus remains on rehabilitation, helping those re-entering society to find house and work in order to not be put in the position of committing further crimes and ending up back in the correctional system.

Kelly said West Virginia ranks in the top 10 states for reduced recidivism – the number of people who reoffend – in the nation. However, Kelly said there are 11 inmates who have been granted parole but have exhausted all options for housing.

“Most of those are sex offenders or others that have medical issues,” Kelly said. “The number has come down significantly, I will say that. At one time we were over 60, so it’s come down significantly, but we’re still trying to find adequate housing for people who need it. They need to be able to move on.”

Regional jail costs owed by counties continues to be an issue. According to Kelly, the real cost to house an inmate in the regional jail system, including medical costs, is $90.16 per day. DCR has been trying to find ways to bring down costs. A recent experiment involved feeding inmates only two meals per day on weekends while providing the same required caloric intake in order to cut down on food waste. But after an outcry, DCR went back to three meals per day on weekends.

“It seems like particularly on the weekends we throw away a lot of food,” Kelly said. “That’s something that we try to be good stewards of. That’s taxpayer money. We looked at that. We have a standard of excellence in the division. When we roll out a program and it doesn’t meet our standard of excellence, we’re not going to keep it. We rolled it back immediately and we got things back to three meals a day.”

Kelly told lawmakers that he was proud to work with the correctional officers and non-uniformed staff of DCR. While improvements have been made, Kelly said the goal is always towards continued improvement.

“I’m not standing up here saying, look at what we’ve done. I want you to see where we’re headed,” Kelly said. “That’s because we have great people working at the division. And I’m proud of them, every one of them. They represent building blocks for continued progress. I want us to continue to be foundational and build on that which is already there. With your continued support, we will ensure our correctional system remains safe, that it remains effective and focused on preparing people for a better future.”