Stevens Correctional Center Hosts Hiring Fair Amid Statewide Staffing Shortage

Warden Ralph Terry's facility at Stevens Correctional Center and Jail in Welch drew job-seekers Thursday as the West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation ran a five-hour recruiting event aimed at a statewide staffing crisis: more than 410 total vacancies across the agency, including 223 unfilled correctional officer positions as of July 2025.

The fair ran from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Welch facility, where applicants could pursue openings in corrections, case management, food service, and special operations. WVDCR advised attendees to bring identification, a Social Security card, and education credentials. Background checks and formal hiring paperwork awaited qualified candidates on site.

The vacancy figures came directly from WVDCR Commissioner David Kelly, who told the West Virginia Legislative Oversight Committee on Corrections and Public Safety on September 9, 2025, that despite training more than 1,000 new correctional officers since January 2024, the agency still could not fill the ranks. Retention, Kelly acknowledged, remained the central challenge: newly trained officers were not staying in the system at a sufficient rate to close the gap.

Stevens opened in 1976 in the former Stevens Clinic Hospital building and now operates with a maximum capacity of 332 inmates; the companion Welch Facility adds another 108 beds. Approximately 150 employees serve across both facilities. The facility became fully state-operated on July 9, 2025, under House Bill 3456, introduced by Delegate David Green and passed in the 2025 regular legislative session. McDowell County had housed state overflow inmates since 1999, and the Commission originally acquired the hospital building specifically to create stable employment in a county hollowed out by coal's collapse.

That economic backdrop gives the recruiting push a weight that extends beyond corrections policy. McDowell County carries a 10.2% unemployment rate, the highest of any county in West Virginia. A correctional officer position at Stevens now starts at $42,900 annually, up from $40,000 following a WVDCR pay revision, and climbs to $49,400 by the end of the second year of service. Officers who reach three or more years of continuous service are eligible for a $6,000 retention bonus under legislation enacted in 2024.

When HB 3456 transferred operations to the state last July, all existing county employees converted to state employment with improved pay and benefits. The McDowell County Commission had framed the transition as providing workers with wages and a benefits structure the county could no longer sustain on its own.

Pay increases have helped attract new applicants across the state, but Kelly's September 2025 testimony made clear the agency had not closed its staffing gap. With 223 CO vacancies still on the books despite training more than 1,000 new officers over the prior 18 months, the April 2 fair at Stevens was simultaneously an economic opportunity for a community that needs stable public-sector work and an open question about why competitive pay and aggressive recruitment have not yet produced a fully staffed system.

Job-seekers who could not attend can access ongoing listings through the WVDCR careers portal, where corrections and support positions at Stevens and facilities statewide remain posted.