Cells Quickly Filling in McDowell

It's starting to get a little crowded at McDowell County 's newest state prison.

Following a slow start, inmates are finally flowing into the Stevens Correctional Center , as the old hospital is now quickly approaching its maximum capacity of 322 inmates.

“As we speak, I'm now receiving 28 inmates from the Prunytown Correctional Center in Grafton,” Betty Hardin, warden of the new state prison said. “And (Friday) I'm scheduled to receive six more from Mount Olive . That will bring us up to 314. My capacity is 322.”

Hardin said the prison could reach maximum capacity as early as the end of this week.

“At capacity, things should begin to bottom out or level out,” Hardin said. “And then we will be up to the business of just running the prison on a daily basis. It's something we've always looked forward to. It's taken months.”

Hardin said inmate processing has been a big part of the last two months.

“It's a lot of hard work,” Hardin said. “The inmates have to go through a lot of processing to get to us. But once we are at capacity, things will start to settle down.”

Hardin said everything at the new prison has gone smoothly in recent weeks. However, the facility has experienced some employee turn over.

“Corrections isn't for everybody,” Hardin said. “We have interviewed several and we are in the process of hiring or replacing at least six more employees.”

The prison currently has about 150 employees.

As the state prison prepares to reach capacity, Hardin said attention remains focused on the federal prison project planned at the Indian Ridge Industrial Park in Welch.

The Federal Bureau of Prisons decided last week to award a $7.3 million design contract for the federal prison project.

The contract was awarded despite White House efforts to cancel more than $142 million in federal funds for the 1,280 bed federal prison. The contract was awarded to Clark Design Build LLC of Bethesda, Md.

--Charles Owens (Bluefield Daily Telegraph)