West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation Commissioner David Kelly spoke to the Legislative Oversight Committee on Corrections and Public Safety on Sept. 9, 2025. (Photo by Will Price/West Virginia Legislative Photography)
West Virginia is making progress in addressing staffing shortages in its crowded jails and prisons, but hundreds of positions remain unfilled. David Kelly, commissioner for the state’s Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation, told lawmakers that it continues to be one of the major problems in the division.
“As of July, we have over 410 vacancies,” he said Tuesday to members of the Legislative Oversight Committee on Corrections and Public Safety. “I want to find a way to bring those vacancies down and we are working diligently.”
He added, “We’ve trained over 1,000 [new employees] since January 2024. That’s an amazing statistic.”
Kelly stepped into the role of commissioner in June after serving as a Republican lawmaker in the House of Delegates. While in the state Legislature, he chaired a committee on jails and prisons and championed raises for correctional officers during a staffing crisis that prompted a state of emergency from 2022 through last year.
But the 2023 raises and hiring bonuses under former Gov. Jim. Justice — which cost $21 million — only included uniformed officers, leaving out non-uniformed staff in jails like cooks, counselors and more.
“They did not get a raise like the uniformed staff did. They are a vital and intricate part of the daily operations of the Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation,” Kelly said.
The state’s Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation has a more than $354 million budget for 16 correctional facilities, correctional officer salaries and more. The state’s juvenile correctional services under DCR has a separate budget of roughly $57 million.
Kelly said that multiple counties are unable to pay their jail bills, pushing the cost onto the state. West Virginia counties pay the state per inmate per day to house inmates at regional jails.
“There are counties that simply cannot pay … and that’s because of the counties’ financial situations,” he said. “When they cannot pay, it costs the state more.”
There are good things happening in the corrections system, Kelly said, noting a program that pairs incarcerated persons with shelter animals for training and care. Through a Paws from Prison Program, the dogs are later given to veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder or children with disabilities for therapy purposes.
“The program has proven to be transformative. It boosts morale of our inmate population who is doing this,” Kelly said. “It teaches responsibility and builds empathy. That prepares inmates with successful reintegration into society.”
Kelly is focused on rehabilitation when possible and keeping the state’s recidivism rate low. But, he explained that there are challenges reintegrating people back into the community, especially when it comes to finding employment and housing.
Del. Hollis Lewis, D-Kanawha
He noted that it costs the state $90.16 per day for each incarcerated person. Medical expenses are contributing to that cost.
“We currently have 11 inmates who have been granted parole and have exhausted all means for housing,” Kelly said. “Most of those are sex offenders or others who have medical issues … We’re still trying to find an adequate house for people who need to be able to move on.”
Del. Hollis Lewis, D-Kanawha, also said that housing was a challenge for inmates who had completed their time with DCR. “I know when I was on the parole board, housing was a huge issue for those inmates who were ready and parole qualified,” he said.
Decision to serve inmates less meals on weekends reversed
Kelly also told lawmakers that DCR has reversed its recent decision to serve incarcerated persons two meals per day on weekends instead of three.
Lewis questioned the thought behind the change, prompting Kelly to explain that the division was testing serving two meals with the same caloric count and nutritional count that would be found in three meals to see if it was feasible. A lot of food was thrown out on the weekends, he said.
Kelly said it was a test “that did not work.”
“When we roll out a program and it doesn’t meet our standard of excellence, we’re not going to keep it,” he said. “We rolled it back immediately, and we got things back to three meals a day.”
Ahead of the meeting, family members of incarcerated West Virginians and clergy members delivered letters to Kelly asking him to fix problems with the food served in state jails and prisons.
“Although this decision was walked back, there’s no guarantee DCR won’t try to serve fewer meals again. West Virginia jails and prisons are also notorious for serving small portions of food that are overprocessed, lacking in fresh nutrients and sometimes rotten or spoiled,” a press release said. “As the families of incarcerated West Virginians, we believe our loved ones deserve to be treated with respect.”
