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West Virginia

West Virginia’s Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation (DCR) trains its own correctional officers and runs every prison and regional jail in the State. Since June 12, 2026, a DCR correctional officer is a law-enforcement officer by statute but is not subject to LEPS certification. Since 2023 the State has widened the confidentiality of facility video and incident records and required the commissioner to let claimants’ attorneys view them, created an Inspector General for the department that includes DCR, let designated officers carry concealed under the federal LEOSA, and made battery and assault on correctional employees felonies. No statute limiting restrictive housing was found in chapter 15A.

Sources checked
Part of
Corrections Ledger

At a glance

Certifying body
No external certifying body for correctional officers. The DCR commissioner must establish a training program for division personnel (W. Va. Code 15A-3-4). Since June 12, 2026, a DCR correctional officer is a law-enforcement officer, but one who has completed the commissioner’s correctional officer training program is “not subject to the certification requirements set forth in §30-29-1 et seq.” The commissioner may consult the Law-Enforcement Professional Standards (LEPS) Subcommittee, which certifies police (see the Officer Ledger page), when designing that course (W. Va. Code 15A-3-10(a)).
Statute
W. Va. Code chapter 15A, article 3 (DCR: commissioner’s powers, employees, law-enforcement powers, firearms), article 4 (corrections management), article 5 (Bureau of Prisons and Jails), and article 7 (Bureau of Community Corrections, parole officers). Probation officers: W. Va. Code 62-12-5 and 62-12-6.
Minimum standards
Statute sets few hiring rules. All prospective correctional employees “shall pass a preemployment drug screening prior to being hired” (15A-3-5(d)), and DCR may hire from the Correctional Officer I register without regard to rank, after qualified preference-register candidates (15A-3-6). Other qualifications come from DCR and the civil-service classification. DCR’s careers page says applicants must pass a drug test and background check before an offer.
Basic training
By DCR Policy Directive 148.00 (effective May 4, 2026), new full-time employees complete at least 40 hours of pre-basic orientation and at least 40 hours of mentored on-the-job training in facilities. “All Correctional Officers are required to successfully complete the entire Basic Training curriculum (a minimum of 120 hours) during their first year of employment.” Central Office, Correctional Industries, Parole Services, and training staff get at least 40 hours. An employee removed from basic training (other than for medical or emergency reasons) may be returned once; if removed again, the appointing authority shall seek dismissal (XVI(D)). Residential facility employees must complete defensive tactics before working independently (XV). DCR’s careers page says officers “attend four (4) weeks of training” at the Corrections Academy in Glenville (PD 148.00).
In-service training
After the first year, facility, Parole Services, and Youth Reporting Center staff complete 40 hours of in-service training a year; Central Office, Correctional Industries, and training staff complete 16 (PD 148.00 XVIII). A correctional employee certified to carry a firearm must pass an annual qualification equal to the LEPS course (15A-3-10(g)). The three-year autism and dementia training mandate applies to law-enforcement officers; for correction officers the commissioner “periodically may” include the topic in in-service training (30-29-5a(i), (j)).
Decertification
No decertification process or public list for correctional officers was found. Officers trained by DCR are outside LEPS certification (15A-3-10(a)), so discipline is an employment matter for DCR. Sexual contact with an incarcerated person by a DCR employee or contract worker is a felony (61-8B-10). The Inspector General of the Department of Homeland Security investigates conduct in the department, including DCR (15A-13-1(j)).
Jail standards
No separate jail standards body. West Virginia has no county-run jails: the regional jails are state facilities run by DCR. The Jail Facilities Standards Commission was repealed in 2018, when the Regional Jail and Correctional Facility Authority was merged into DCR, and its jail standards rule, 95 CSR 1, is listed as “Historical” (Secretary of State). The commissioner governs all prisons, regional jails, and juvenile centers (15A-3-12) and sets rules and policies for them (15A-3-18). Counties pay DCR a per-inmate daily rate for pretrial and misdemeanor inmates (15A-3-16).
Probation and parole officers
Adult probation officers are court employees, appointed by circuit courts with Supreme Court of Appeals approval (62-12-5). They may carry concealed under the federal LEOSA if they qualify each year at the sheriff’s-deputy standard (62-12-5(h) to (m)). Parole officers are DCR employees hired by the commissioner (15A-7-3(b)) and may arrest, confine, and search parolees under supervision without a warrant (15A-7-5(b)). PD 148.00 sets at least 40 hours of basic training and 40 hours of yearly in-service for Parole Services. No statutory certification for either group was found; Supreme Court of Appeals rules on probation officer training were not checked.
Restrictive housing
No statute limiting solitary confinement or restrictive housing was found in chapter 15A. DCR’s policy page lists directives on disciplinary segregation, administrative segregation in prisons and in jails, and protective custody (326.00 to 326.03); only their titles were checked.
Corrections use of force
No corrections-specific statutory rule on use of force or restraints was found. The statute covers firearms: the commissioner may certify correctional employees who complete firearms training equivalent to deputy-sheriff training to carry division-issued firearms, with annual requalification (15A-3-10(g)). By policy, employees must complete training and show competency at least once a year before using firearms, chemical agents, conducted electrical weapons, or batons (PD 148.00 XIX). No statute on restraining pregnant incarcerated people was found in chapter 15A or in 2023 to 2026 bill titles; a provision elsewhere in the Code was not ruled out.

Changes, 2023 to 2026

  • DCR correctional officers declared law-enforcement officers, outside LEPS certification

    HB 4552 (2026 Regular Session), amending W. Va. Code 15A-3-10Effective June 12, 2026 (90 days from passage, per the bill status page)

    The prior text said a correctional officer employed by the division “is not a law-enforcement officer” as defined in 30-29-1. The section now reads: “As outlined in this section, a correctional officer employed by the division is a law-enforcement officer,” but officers who complete the commissioner’s training program are not subject to LEPS certification. The commissioner may consult LEPS in designing the course, and the change does not override 30-29-5 for anyone employed by a police agency. Officers who retire or separate honorably are qualified retired law-enforcement officers under 18 U.S.C. 926C, and the off-duty identification and carry provisions of 30-29-12 apply to LEOSA-qualified correctional officers (new subsection (n)). A similar bill, HB 2362 (2025), passed the House and died in a Senate committee.

    For corrections staff: You are a law-enforcement officer by statute, still trained by DCR rather than certified by LEPS, and retirees may qualify for LEOSA carry.

    HB 4552 enrolled W. Va. Code 15A-3-10

  • Battery and assault on correctional employees become felonies

    SB 200 (2026 Regular Session), amending W. Va. Code 61-2-10bEffective June 11, 2026 (90 days from passage, per the bill status page)

    A first battery on a correctional employee (or other covered public worker) acting in an official capacity was a misdemeanor punishable by 1 to 12 months in jail. It is now a felony punishable by 1 to 3 years in a state correctional facility, a fine up to $500, or both. Second and third offenses rise to 2 to 5 and 5 to 10 years. Assault, meaning an attempt or placing someone in fear, moves from a misdemeanor of 24 hours to 6 months to a felony of 1 to 3 years. “Correctional employee” covers DCR, Regional Jail Authority, and Juvenile Services employees and contractor staff who serve incarcerated people. Existing subsection (f) already barred concurrent sentences for incarcerated adults who assault correctional employees.

    For corrections staff: A battery or assault on you while on duty is now a felony, including a first offense.

    SB 200 enrolled Prior text: HB 3018 (2017)

  • Parole supervision fee cap raised from $40 to $50 a month

    HB 5444 (2026 Regular Session), amending W. Va. Code 62-12-17Effective June 8, 2026 (90 days from passage, per the bill status page)

    Parolees, and out-of-state probationers and parolees supervised by West Virginia, pay a fee based on ability to pay “not to exceed $50 per month to defray the costs of supervision.” The prior text, from 2013, capped the fee at $40. The bill was requested by the Department of Homeland Security and DCR.

    For corrections staff: Parole officers collect a higher maximum monthly supervision fee, still based on ability to pay.

    HB 5444 enrolled Prior text: SB 371 (2013)

  • Custodial sexual contact felony expressly names vendor staff

    SB 828 (2025 Regular Session), amending W. Va. Code 61-8B-10Effective July 3, 2025 (90 days from passage, per the bill status page)

    The felony of sexual intercourse, intrusion, or contact with an incarcerated or detained person (1 to 5 years, fine up to $5,000) now names “any person working at a correctional or juvenile facility managed by the Commissioner of Corrections and Rehabilitation pursuant to contract, such as a vendor.” Contract workers were already covered; the only change to subsection (a) from the 2022 text is the words “such as a vendor,” a clarification, as the act’s title says. Subsection (b) separately makes sexual contact by parole and probation officers with people they supervise a felony.

    For corrections staff: Medical, food-service, and other vendor staff fall under the same custodial sexual misconduct felony as DCR employees.

    SB 828 enrolled W. Va. Code 61-8B-10

  • Designated correctional officers may carry concealed off duty under the federal LEOSA

    HB 4297 (2024 Regular Session), adding W. Va. Code 15A-3-10(h) to (m)Effective June 7, 2024 (90 days from passage, per the bill status page)

    Correctional officers with arrest powers whom the commissioner authorizes to carry firearms are “qualified law-enforcement officers” under 18 U.S.C. 926B. A designated officer may carry a concealed firearm if the commissioner has a written policy, the officer qualifies each year at or above the deputy-sheriff LEPS standard, and the commissioner issues a photo identification and certification card. The policy must exclude people barred from possessing firearms and bar carrying while impaired. Officers buy their own firearm and ammunition, and participation is entirely at the commissioner’s discretion. Before the act, the section ended at subsection (g), on-duty firearms certification.

    For corrections staff: If DCR adopts the policy and you qualify each year, you may carry concealed under LEOSA at your own expense.

    HB 4297 enrolled Prior text: HB 2462 (2019)

  • Municipalities reimburse counties for up to five days of jail costs

    SB 1007 (2023 First Extraordinary Session), Acts 1st Ex. Sess. 2023, ch. 27, amending W. Va. Code 15A-3-16(l)Passed August 8, 2023; effective from passage; approved August 14, 2023

    When the municipal police of a Class I or Class II municipality, or of a Class III municipality with a population over 4,000, place a person in a jail on a charge that “could have been brought in municipal court but was brought in a magistrate court,” the county commission that pays the per diem cost “shall be entitled to reimbursement from the municipal corporation of actual expenditures for up to five days of per diem costs.” This replaced the HB 3552 version of subsection (l), passed earlier in 2023, which let a county seek one day of per diem costs by memorandum of understanding.

    For corrections staff: The arresting agency and the charging court on a jail admission now determine whether the county can bill the municipality for up to five days.

    SB 1007 enrolled SB 1007 bill status

  • New formula for what counties pay DCR to hold jail inmates

    HB 3552 (2023 Regular Session), Acts 2023, ch. 79, amending W. Va. Code 15A-3-16Approved March 29, 2023; effective June 9, 2023 (90 days from passage); new rates apply from July 1, 2023

    From July 1, 2023, the base rate counties pay DCR for each inmate day in its jails is $54.48, adjusted each year by the State Budget Office from the average of the last three fiscal years of jail operating costs. The rate had been capped at $48.25 through June 30, 2023. Each county’s pro rata share of inmate days is its 2020 census population multiplied by 0.52. A county pays 80 percent of the rate for the first 80 percent of its share, 100 percent up to its full share, and 120 percent beyond it. The shares are recalculated every 10 years from July 1, 2031. The commissioner must post each county’s share and rates on DCR’s webpage. HB 3552 also let a county seek one day of per diem costs, by memorandum of understanding, from a Class I or II municipality (or a Class III municipality of more than 4,000 people) whose police jailed a person for an offense that is not a municipal violation (subsection (l)). SB 1007 (2023 First Extraordinary Session) replaced that subsection effective August 8, 2023; see that entry. Counties pay for pretrial inmates and convicted misdemeanants; DCR pays from the day after a felony conviction.

    For corrections staff: Jail admissions and release times feed a billing formula that DCR must publish by county.

    HB 3552 enrolled HB 3552 bill status

  • Inspector General created for the department that includes DCR

    HB 3360 (2023 Regular Session), creating W. Va. Code 15A-13-1; amended by HB 4976 (2024), adding 15A-13-1(s)HB 3360 effective June 9, 2023 (90 days from passage); HB 4976 approved February 29, 2024, effective May 14, 2024 (90 days from passage)

    The act creates an independent Office of the Inspector General in the Department of Homeland Security, which includes DCR and the Parole Board (5F-2-1(i)). The Inspector General is appointed by the Governor with Senate consent for five years and removable only for cause. The office must investigate fraud, waste, abuse of funds, and “behavior in the department that threatens public safety or demonstrates negligence, incompetence, misfeasance, or malfeasance,” may subpoena people and evidence, and refers cases to prosecutors. No one, including the Governor, may impede an investigation. Since May 14, 2024, DCR and the department’s other agencies must post the Inspector General’s contact information in their offices and on their websites.

    For corrections staff: Staff misconduct and facility failures can be investigated by an independent inspector general with subpoena power, whose contact details DCR must post.

    HB 3360 enrolled HB 4976 enrolled W. Va. Code 15A-13-1

  • Field training probation officers created

    HB 3448 (2023 Regular Session), adding W. Va. Code 62-12-5(n)Effective June 5, 2023 (90 days from passage, per the bill status page)

    The Administrative Director of the Supreme Court of Appeals, or a designee, “may hire field training probation officers to provide uniform training to new and current probation officers statewide.” These officers have all the powers of a probation officer while on duty. The 2022 text of 62-12-5 had no field training provision.

    For corrections staff: Court probation officers may receive statewide uniform training from field training officers who hold full probation powers.

    HB 3448 bill status W. Va. Code 62-12-5

  • Facility records confidentiality widened, and attorney viewing made mandatory

    SB 495 (2023 Regular Session), amending W. Va. Code 15A-4-8aPassed March 11, 2023; effective from passage

    Covered records now expressly include video and audio recordings, incident reports, investigation reports with witness statements, and “any document or recording generated within a facility containing information which would reasonably place the safety of an employee, inmate, or resident in jeopardy.” They are confidential and may be released only under the section, the Freedom of Information Act, court discovery rules, or the juvenile records law. Disclosure is allowed to department and DCR officials, to law enforcement investigating a crime, to the Juvenile Justice Commission, and under a court or tribunal order that limits use. The commissioner must (“shall”) let a licensed West Virginia attorney for a potential claimant, or for a relative of a person injured or killed in custody, view the video, incident reports, and investigation reports; in 2022 this was discretionary (“may authorize”). Copies are released only after suit or pre-suit discovery and a protective order. The 2022 version covered video, incident reports, and investigation reports only, without the employee-safety category or the relatives’ attorney provision.

    For corrections staff: Incident reports, witness statements, and video you produce are confidential by statute, but a claimant’s attorney is entitled to view them.

    SB 495 enrolled Prior text: SB 441 (2022)

Enacted, not yet in force, pending, and bills that did not pass

No enacted corrections law awaits its effective date; every 2023 to 2026 act listed above is in force.

These bills were not enacted: HB 2464 (2023, limit solitary confinement to 3 days in every 2 weeks; died in House Jails and Prisons); HB 5531 (2024, 12 percent correctional officer pay increase; died in House Jails and Prisons); SB 622 (2023) and SB 346 (2024), moving correctional officers into the Natural Resources Police Officer Retirement System (both died in Senate Pensions); SB 1011 (2023 First Special Session, commissioner’s authority and duties; referred to House Judiciary August 8, 2023, not passed); and HB 2362 (2025, the precursor of HB 4552; died in a Senate committee). Sources: 2023 bill list, 2024 bill list, SB 1011.

Effective dates of 90 days from passage are the dates shown on the Legislature’s bill status pages. Whether the August 2023 First Special Session appropriations (SB 1003, 1004, 1005, 1039), which funded DCR during the staffing emergency, carried officer pay raises was not confirmed from the act texts.

Checked and unchanged

  • DCR Policy Directive 148.00 was read in its May 4, 2026 version; earlier versions were not compared. Directive 148.01 (physical agility testing) and the segregation directives 326.00 to 326.03 were identified by title only.
  • Not counted: SB 208 (2023, effective May 31, 2023) amended 30-29-5a to require autism and dementia training every three years for law-enforcement officers. Its correction officer provisions are permissive: recruits “may receive” the course, and the commissioner “periodically may” include it in in-service training (30-29-5a(h), (j)). See the Officer Ledger entry.

Bills in the legislature

Bills in the current session whose title concerns corrections officers, jails, probation and parole, and conditions of confinement, found automatically in LegiScan's copy of the legislature's records and refreshed daily (last on October 21, 2026). This list is not reviewed by an editor and is not a summary of the bills; each links to the legislature's own page, which controls. Bills that become law are added to the dated entries above once checked.

The law, section by section

Every section of the statutes and rules this page relies on that could be read from an official source, 62 in all, each linked to the official text. Headings are copied from the official tables of contents, checked October 21, 2026.

West Virginia Code, Chapter 15A, Articles 3, 4, 5, and 7: Division of Corrections and RehabilitationStatute · 60 sections

Official text current through West Virginia Legislature Code site: "These West Virginia Code sections are updated regularly as new legislation takes effect." (read 2026-10-21). W. Va. Code 15A-3, 15A-4, 15A-5, 15A-7, official text

ARTICLE 3. DIVISION OF CORRECTIONS AND REHABILITATION

  • 15A-3-1 Purpose and legislative intent
  • 15A-3-2 Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation established
  • 15A-3-3 Commissioner of division; qualifications, oath and bond
  • 15A-3-4 Powers and duties of commissioner generally
  • 15A-3-4a Powers and duties of commissioner generally regarding Stevens Correctional Center
  • 15A-3-5 Officers and employees of corrections institutions
  • 15A-3-6 Hiring of correctional officer without regard to position on the register
  • 15A-3-7 Compensation of employees; traveling and other expenses
  • 15A-3-8 Reports by commissioner and chief officers of institutions to Auditor
  • 15A-3-9 Special compensation of officers and employees prohibited; penalty
  • 15A-3-10 Law-enforcement powers of employees; authority to carry firearms
  • 15A-3-11 Unauthorized use of uniform, badge, identification card, or other insignia; impersonation of member; and penalty
  • 15A-3-12 Institutions managed by commissioner
  • 15A-3-13 Title to property of state institutions; custody of deeds and other muniments of title; authority of Commissioner
  • 15A-3-14 Exempt from Purchasing Division; purchasing procedures
  • 15A-3-14a Creation of special fund for surplus property revenue; disposal of surplus property
  • 15A-3-15 Mutual aid agreements
  • 15A-3-16 Funds for operations of jails under the jurisdiction of the commissioner
  • 15A-3-17 Jail Operations Partial Reimbursement Fund
  • 15A-3-18 Rules

ARTICLE 4. CORRECTIONS MANAGEMENT

  • 15A-4-1 Applicability of article
  • 15A-4-2 Furlough programs
  • 15A-4-3 Electronic monitoring of offenders; special account
  • 15A-4-4 Diagnostic and classification divisions
  • 15A-4-5 Transfer of inmates of state institutions or facilities
  • 15A-4-6 Monitoring of inmate telephone calls; procedures and restrictions; calls to or from attorneys excepted
  • 15A-4-7 Monitoring inmate mail; procedures and restrictions; identifying mail from a state institution; mail to or from attorneys excepted
  • 15A-4-8 Monitoring of inmate electronic correspondence; procedures and restrictions; to or from attorneys excepted
  • 15A-4-8a Facility video and security records confidential; exceptions
  • 15A-4-9 Trustee accounts and funds, earnings and personal property of inmates and residents
  • 15A-4-10 Inmate or resident benefit funds
  • 15A-4-11 Financial responsibility program for inmates
  • 15A-4-12 Limitation on reimbursement rate to medical service providers for services outside division facilities
  • 15A-4-13 Charges assessed against inmates for services provided by state
  • 15A-4-13a Prohibition on use of taxpayer resources for certain medical procedures
  • 15A-4-14 Record of inmate or resident
  • 15A-4-15 Manufacture of license plates, road signs or markers
  • 15A-4-16 Gifts to or dealings with inmate or resident
  • 15A-4-17 Deduction from sentence for good conduct; mandatory supervision
  • 15A-4-17a Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation mandatory supervised release plan
  • 15A-4-18 Governor’s authority to authorize commissioner to consent to transfer of inmates under a federal treaty
  • 15A-4-19 Mentally ill inmates; treatment; transfer between correctional and mental health facilities; correctional facility procedures
  • 15A-4-20 Work program
  • 15A-4-21 Director of employment; director of housing; released inmates; duties

ARTICLE 5. BUREAU OF PRISONS AND JAILS

  • 15A-5-1 Creation of Bureau of Prisons and Jails; organization of facilities
  • 15A-5-2 Transfer of duties and funds of Division of Corrections
  • 15A-5-3 Superintendents; duties and authority; bond; residence
  • 15A-5-4 Appointment of deputy superintendent; duties; bond
  • 15A-5-5 Hiring of other assistants and employees
  • 15A-5-6 Jail intake facilities; housing of adult inmates
  • 15A-5-7 Pretrial risk assessment
  • 15A-5-8 Jail processing fee
  • 15A-5-9 Ability to refuse offenders
  • 15A-5-10 Completing the GOALS Program satisfies the requirements for the DUI Safety and Treatment Program

ARTICLE 7. BUREAU OF COMMUNITY CORRECTIONS

  • 15A-7-1 Creation of Bureau of Community Corrections; Organization of facilities
  • 15A-7-2 Duties of superintendents; bond; residence
  • 15A-7-3 Hiring of other assistants and employees; duties of employees
  • 15A-7-4 Supervision of probationers and parolees; final determinations remaining with board of probation and parole
  • 15A-7-5 Powers and duties of state parole officers
  • 15A-7-6 Parole supervision benefit fund
West Virginia Code, Chapter 62, Article 12: Probation and Parole (sections 62-12-5 and 62-12-6)Statute · 2 sections

Official text current through West Virginia Legislature Code site: "These West Virginia Code sections are updated regularly as new legislation takes effect." (read 2026-10-21). Only the two sections the page cites are listed from article 62-12. W. Va. Code 62-12-5, 62-12-6, official text

ARTICLE 12. PROBATION AND PAROLE

  • 62-12-5 Probation officers and assistants
  • 62-12-6 Powers and duties of probation officers

No rules are listed: the page cites no current legislative rule for corrections; the former jail standards rule, 95 CSR 1, is listed by the Secretary of State as "Historical." DCR policy directives are agency policy, not rules. Repealed sections are omitted.

USCLI's source monitor re-reads the 28 official sources cited on this page around the clock; 5 answered unchanged at their latest check. The oldest of those checks was on October 21, 2026.

Last updated October 21, 2026Source: United States Council for Law & InvestigationCite as: United States Council for Law & Investigation, “West Virginia corrections law: Corrections Ledger,” uscli.org/corrections-tracker/west-virginia (last updated October 21, 2026). Text licensed CC BY 4.0.