Last week The State Journal reported that Thomas McBride, the longest serving warden in the 12-year history of Mount Olive, West Virginia's maximum-security prison, is stepping down after six years on the job.

David Ballard, warden at Lakin Correctional Center, has taken over at Mount Olive.

In an interview with WOWK-TV reporter Martin Staunton, McBride said one challenge Ballard will have is a shortage of correctional officers at the prison.

"We're down approximately 60-some employees (at Mount Olive)," McBride said before leaving his post Aug. 31. "It seems we don't have the response we would like. There's no incentive, nothing to bring them here. I don't know if it's the fear factor or the money factor."

Salary Problems

Jim Rubenstein, commissioner of the Division of Corrections, said the need for corrections officers runs in cycles.

"We've actually gotten down to single-digit (shortages) before," Rubenstein said. "I've told the Legislature that when the economy is improving, corrections sort of takes a hit."

The division, or DOC, also has a problem losing state corrections officers to the federal penitentiary system, which offers a better pay scale than West Virginia.

New corrections officers in the state earn $21,000. Legislation passed this year will give existing officers a $5,000 raise over three years, but the pay hike did not change the starting salary, Rubenstein said.

"They (legislators) haven't raised the starting salary, but the raise is certainly helping with recruiting," he said. "It's helpful to show somebody that, come July 1, they're going to get a raise."

Rubenstein said he understands the budgetary pressures lawmakers address every year and said he is grateful for the $5,000 pay raise for corrections officers, but, he added, "I would love to be able to raise the starting salary."

Compared to surrounding states and other southern states, Rubenstein said West Virginia remains at the low end of corrections officer salaries.

Recruiting Challenges

Low starting salaries are just one barrier to recruiting corrections officers, Rubenstein said, which is why shortages are hard to fix.

"The hot spot is Mount Olive, so that's where we're going to put our emphasis on recruitment at job fairs and through word of mouth, which is extremely effective," he said.

The DOC has a good working relationship with WORKFORCE West Virginia career development centers, where interested people can take the test to become a corrections officer.

"We've had a good number of people who take the test and get a decent score, get on the register, but then for some reason don't show up," Rubenstein said. "You may call 10 people in, and when the dust settles only hire two or three. I don't know what the answer is. Sadly, some folks just don't show up."

The corrections officer exam is conducted using a video that applicants watch and respond to by answering a series of questions.

"The video test is pretty cool, actually. It gives scenarios and actually shows the job and prison-type settings," Rubenstein said. "We can see what kind of judgment and reaction applicants have. They watch a scenario then answer multiple-choice questions, and we can see how people think on their feet."

The exam measures both cognitive abilities and basic math and writing skills.

For those who continue on the path to becoming a corrections officer, Rubenstein said the training process is the same regardless of whether a person is going to be working at a minimum- or maximum-security prison.

A five-week academy gives new corrections officers all the tools they need to make a good officer, he said. Officers also are required to complete 40 hours of in-service training each year.

Prison Populations

Recruiting corrections officers will become increasingly more important as the state's prison population grows.

A shortage of prison beds means West Virginia has been forced to house corrections inmates in jails, which do not have the same amenities as prisons. Jails are designed to house short-term inmates, those spending only up to one year behind bars.

An often-mentioned study by George Washington University indicates West Virginia's correctional facilities will need space for nearly 7,000 inmates by 2014, and Rubenstein said the state is on track to meet that estimate.

According to information provided by the Division of Corrections, West Virginia's prison population had the third highest average annual increase in the country from 1995 to 2004. The total prison population in the state is projected to reach 6,010 by 2009 and 6,992 by 2014.

"We continue to address the overpopulation problem," Rubenstein said.

The state is adding three 50-bed work camps -- one each at Mount Olive, Huttonsville and St. Marys correctional complexes -- that provide more housing for minimum-security inmates who will work on state highways cleanup and related projects.

"We've also added beds at Huttonsville and the Lakin Correctional Complex for women," Rubenstein said. "... We're going to do our best to manage our prison population as it continues to grow."

The state Supreme Court of Appeals has examined the prison overcrowding issue, but for now no branch of government has implemented immediate changes.

In Sams v. Division of Corrections et. al., inmates sued the state, accusing it of failing to address the overcrowding issue. The Supreme Court addressed the extent to which the state has adhered to a 2002 long-term plan for reducing the number of state prisoners held in county and regional jails.

The opinion said lawmakers and the executive branch need to act more quickly than they have been in finding a better way to handle an overpopulation problem. If they do not, the Supreme Court or federal courts may be forced to intervene.