NCJ Number
236573
Date Published
February 2011
Length
12 pages
Annotation
This report continues the biennial updating of prison population projections for West Virginia.
Abstract
It describes the current correctional population and provides policymakers with a 10-year correctional population forecast (2010-2020). West Virginia has the second fastest growing prison population in the Nation, increasing by 5.1 percent in 2009 and 4.9 percent in 2010. The correctional population is projected to increase over the next decade at an average rate of 4.6 percent each year. Over this period, the State prison system can expect to receive approximately 305 additional inmates per year, down from the 311 that occurred between 2008 and 2010. At the end of 2010, 6,681 inmates were in custody, and the population is expected to reach 8,251 inmates in 2015 and 9,732 in 2020. In 2010, 72 percent of all new prison admissions were for nonviolent offenses. Violent offenders are expected to compose less than half of the prison population in 2015. A peak of 439 parole violators were returned to prison in 2008, resulting in a 140-percent increase in returns between 2004 and 2008. In 2010, the parole grant rate declined from a peak of 53.4 percent in 2008 to 46.2 percent by 2010. The forecast of the State correctional population was completed using Wizard 2000 projection software. This computerized simulation model mimics the flow of offenders through the State's correctional system over a 10-year forecast and produces monthly projections of key inmate groups. Data sources were the National Corrections Reporting Program, the Automated Inmate Information Tracking System, the Inmate Management Information System, the Commitments and Releases Log, the End-of-Month Log, and West Virginia Parole Board Activity Sheets. 8 tables