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The Ohio County Correctional Center will soon close, as announced Friday afternoon by the West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation, but the division said no jobs will be lost because of it.
The WVDCR made the announcement through a news release. Division Commissioner David Kelly said the move would make better use of existing correctional capacity while maintaining inmate services and preserving all staff positions. The facility currently houses 54 low-security inmates.
"This decision allows us to make better use of the capacity and resources we already have while continuing to provide the services required of our correctional system," Kelly said in the release. "We can streamline our operations without eliminating jobs or compromising the care and services provided to those in our custody."
All staff members will transition directly into other positions within the division, the release noted, and the inmates will be transferred to facilities in the state operating below capacity. Inmate services, medical care and routine programming will continue without interruption during the transition.
That transition will begin immediately and is expected to be completed over the next 30 days, the release stated.
According to the WVDCR website, the facility was built in 1974 and served as a jail for Ohio County until 1994. It closed that same year with the opening of the Northern Regional Jail. The former West Virginia Division of Corrections began leasing the facility in 1998. It houses male technical parole violators.