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After the regional jail summit several weeks ago, several of the best practices for cutting costs have been implemented or are in the development stages all across our state.
We have received numerous call and emails about one of our own that we have started here in Cabell County. There really is no title for the process other than simply "the pre-trialmeeting", but it does reduce the number of inmate days, which in turn yields Cabell County great monetary return.
Each Wednesday morning a member of the prosecutor's office, representatives from Cabell County Alternative Sentencing programs(home confinement and day report), the public defender's office, the commission office, the Chief of Police of the City of Huntington, as well as victim's services gather to discuss processes for releasing inmates that are awaiting trail and possibly a candidate for alternative sentencing.
The criteria studied includes, prior record, current offense and history in these programs. They also determine as to what program would best suit the particular individual if alternative pre trial supervision is appropriate for release. This may include drug screens, check -ins or monitoring through home confinement bracelet or GPS.
On average we are able to discuss 10-15 incarcerates weekly for potential release. Our pre-trial officers also attend court daily, as well as meet daily with Home Confinement and officials of the judiciary to ensure that nonviolent offenders that are appropriate for release aren't adding additional burden to our jail costs and fees.
For further information on our meetings or programs I invite you to contact our offices of Alternative Sentencing, Prosecutors office or the Commission Office. We also are always looking for new and creative ideas for programming and reduction of recidivism thus reducing jail costs while maintaining public safety.
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First of all, I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
The Association is already gearing up for the next legislative session. Our top priority is getting the regional jail costs under control. We
are doing so by working with Joe DeLong, Regional Jail Director, who has many ideas to get the cost of running the jails under control.
To do this, we need your participation during the 2013 legislation. As you are aware, many bills that will affect our budgets will pop up during the session. We need to prepare ourselves to make phone calls to legislators and attending meetings at the Capitol. Good Luck! It has been a pleasure serving as your President!
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Hi a l l , I hope you’ v e had a wonderful Thanksgiving with family and friends, and didn’t over indulge too much of the Thanksgiving feast!
As the bleak predictions of lower severance tax collections start to materialize, our legislative priority of working with RJA and the Legislature to find ways to contain regional jail costs becomes crucial to local government budget survival! The Jail Steering Committee met on November 19,
2012, and renewed our enthusiasm for the coming session, however it will take each one of us, pursing the goals, to attain some level of success.
We are seeking a better method for collecting currently outstanding court costs; supporting passage of a pretrial diversion program similar to one being used in Maryland, called “Probation Before Justice;” supporting RJA’s proposals for more latitude in per diem formula and personnel budgeting; supporting legislation to require all arresting officers’ entities to have “skin in the game:” and finally following the session, to hold regional meetings to share best management practices among ourselves. We need your help and support for these initiatives! Please make an effort to attend the CCAWV Regional Roundtables coming to your area in the next couple of weeks and talk with your local legislators about problems and solutions for this dilemma! I hope to see you there!
As the holidays approach, I hope you have the opportunity to slow down a bit and enjoy time with family and friends. Make yourself feel good by doing something for someone less fortunate. Merry Christmas to ALL!
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We attended two interim meetings in November, discussing the economic impacts of the changes in production of coal, oil, and natural gas in West Virginia. The outlook for coal in the next several years is pretty bleak! Most of West Virginia’s GEP comes from coal and production is down, according to Mark Muchow, Secretary of Tax and Revenue. There are several reasons including the lack of demand from the planned shutdown of a large number of coal-fired energy plants, as well as the current environmental wild card atmosphere.
Coal has been the biggest contributor to WV’s economy over the last 8 years, but is projected to much less over the next 5 years. While oil and natural gas production is up some 25%, severance taxes are still down because demand is down, therefore selling prices are down. As far as how WV compares in severance tax rates (5%) to our neighboring states, we are about equal with Kentucky (4 ½%), a little higher than Pennsylvania who has some sort of impact fee (2 ½%), and ahead of Maryland, Virginia, and Ohio, all having nothing significant in the way of a severance tax. This landscape has major effects on county budgets, not only from a reduction in severance tax revenue collections, but also in reduced property tax collections and loss of jobs when power plants and coal mines close. The up-tick in the oil and gas industry is wonderful, but is not able to level out the lost due to decreases in the coal industry. While some counties may see losses and some gains, because of the volatility of the market, there is a tremendous fluctuation in taxes that counties count on from year to year.
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Some 70 newly elected and veteran County Commissioners from around the state gathered in Bridgeport for a three day “basic training” course designed for newly elected and veteran county commissioners and staff in West Virginia. The intense training offered by the County Commissioners’ Association of West Virginia (CCAWV), was held November 28-30, 2012 and was well attended by over fifty participants, newly elected and veteran. “These folks have a lot on their plate when they take office,” ” said Vivian Parsons, Executive Director of the Commissioners’ Association. “It is our goal to provide them with the tools and resources they need to effectively deal with all of the issues that will hit them as they walk through the courthouse doors!”
CCAWV President Cindy Pyles, Mineral County welcomed the participants and opened the thought-provoking program. “This is no picnic,” said President Pyles, “being a county commissioner is a tough job, but we're here to give you support!"
The jam packed agenda included sessions on media relations, team building skills, parliamentary procedure, county finances, employment practices, county risk management, board of review, ethics and open meeting laws. All attendees took home the 2012 edition of the CCAWV County Commissioners’ Handbook.