Proposal To House Inmates In Ky. On 'back Burner'

By Phil Kabler CHARLESTON, W.Va. - With inmate populations trending downward, and with opportunities for several new in-state facilities, a proposal to house state prisoners at a private, for-profit prison in Kentucky is no longer a priority, West Virginia's corrections commissioner told legislators Monday."That really has been put way back on the back burner, based on the decrease we've been seeing within the total [inmate] population," Commissioner Jim Rubenstein said of a proposal to house up to 400 inmates in a prison in eastern Kentucky operated by the Corrections Corporation of America.Last fall, the division put out a request for proposals for out-of-state prisons for a contract to temporarily house West Virginia inmates to reduce overcrowding in state prisons and Regional Jails.Corrections Corporation of America was the only bidder, proposing a $59.80 per day charge for each inmate it would house at the Lee Adjustment Center near Hazard, Kentucky.Since then, Rubenstein noted, the former Industrial Home for Youth has been converted into the Salem Correctional Center, with a 400-inmate capacity, and Corrections inmates housed in regional jails because of overcrowding now have access to courses they must complete in order to become eligible for parole."The out-of-state [prison] has not been a point of discussion for quite some time," Rubenstein told the Legislative Oversight Commission on Regional Jails and Corrections.Additionally, the conversion of a building at the St.