Charleston Daily Mail
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — About 127 inmates who have been paroled remain in the state’s prison system, despite overcrowding.
“One of the things we’re doing ... is reviewing these fellows, especially those over the 60- to 90-day period,” Corrections Commissioner Jim Rubenstein told lawmakers Monday.
These “pocket parolees,” as Rubenstein calls them, have been left in state prisons even though the Parole Board has ordered them released. Eleven of them have been held for more than a year after their parole, he said.
Of the others, 18 of the 127 were paroled fewer than 30 days ago, Rubenstein reported; 35 were paroled 60 to 120 days ago, 14 were paroled 120 to 180 days ago time period and 39 paroled 180 days to 360 days ago.
“My main concern would be those over the 90-day time frame,” Rubenstein told the interim Committee on the Regional Jail and Correctional Facility Authority.
Most of the “pocket parolees” are still incarcerated because they have no permanent home plan, he believes.
A home plan, required before paroled inmates can be released, includes a place to stay and possible places of employment.
A number of the parolees have been paroled before and sent back to prison for other infractions, Rubenstein said. In some cases, family members do not want them back in their homes and it is difficult to find shelters to house them.
Delegate Brent Boggs, D-Braxton, noted that it would cost the state more than $1 million annually to continue to house them in secure facilities.
Rubenstein said that, if “there is some movement that needs to take place,” his division would do so.
Those on parole have to pay a minimum of $40 monthly to the state unless they require electronic monitoring, which costs more. That cost is based on a sliding scale, the commissioner said.
The state currently houses 4,508 inmates, with another 434 being held at a county-owned jail in McDowell County and 1,168 still backlogged in the regional jail system, awaiting open beds in the prison system.
That means state prison beds are full and the Department of Corrections is responsible for 6,110 inmates.
That population is expected to swell. DOC projections show the backlog in regional jails will double by 2013 if there is no additional construction.
Copyright 2008 Charleston Newspapers