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Out-of-state inmate relocation temporary, official says

Move will give prisoners access to rehab programs

By Phil Kabler

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Division of Corrections Commissioner Jim Rubenstein assured legislators Monday that a proposed move of about 400 West Virginia inmates to a privately operated out-of-state prison would be strictly temporary.

Members of the Legislative Oversight Committee on Regional Jails and Corrections raised questions about the request for bids to move the inmates, currently housed in regional jails around the state.

“We look at this as a temporary solution to be able to identify certain classifications of inmates and to get them ... into a facility where they can start taking advantage of programming,” Rubenstein told the committee.

Because of overcrowding, about 1,500 inmates who should be in prisons are instead housed in regional jails, where they can’t receive treatment, counseling and educational or vocational programs needed to qualify for parole, he said.

Full story: Out-of-state inmate relocation temporary, official says

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