Facility Information

The Southern Regional Jail and Correctional Facility in Beaver, Raleigh County, West Virginia is a local-level jail and correctional facility.  West Virginia approaches local jails differently than most states.  Rather than being run by county sheriff’s departments, they are concentrated under the leadership of the West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

In West Virginia, jails were once operated by the county, just like they are in most other states.  However, a 1946 study authorized by the West Virginia Legislature found that these county-level jails were not sufficient and recommended that the county jails be consolidated into a regional jail system.  These changes were not made immediately, and jail living conditions continued to deteriorate, which resulted in a number of lawsuits by inmates.  While the Law Enforcement Assistance Act provided funding to make improvements in county jails, they continued to prove inadequate and insufficient for meeting prisoner needs.  In 1982, the state commissioned another study on the county jails.  Again, the study resulted in a recommendation that the county jails be consolidated and that the state run the local-level jails.  This recommendation did result in change, and in 1985 the State of West Virginia established the West Virginia Regional Jail and Prison Authority.  The Authority was responsible for issuing bonds to construct regional jails and then take over operation of those jails in place of the existing county-level facilities.  The master plan included the construction of 12 different regional jail facilities.

The Southern Regional Jail was initially constructed with a capacity of 304 inmates.  However, by adding bunks and expanding the facility, it now has a total capacity of 584 inmates, making it the third-highest capacity local jail facility in West Virginia.

Inmates in these facilities have access to various types of jail programming.  These programs include, but are not limited to: anger management, alcohol abuse treatment, substance abuse treatment, life skills, domestic violence, and parenting classes.  Inmates who are sentenced to six months or longer have incentives to complete the programming because they get credit for five days of good time for successfully completing one of the programs, with a maximum of 30 good time day credits available.  For the classes, inmates are charged a $25.00 fee per class on enrollment.  However, even inmates who are unable to pay may be entitled to enroll in classes; the money is just deducted from the inmate’s trust account, as it becomes available.  No more than half of the amount in the inmate’s trust account during a one-week period will be deducted. Inmates who are completely indigent can also take advantage of the program.

The jail superintendent is Michael Francis.  The Executive Director of the West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation is David A. Farmer and the Deputy Director is Lori A. Lynch.  The Southern Regional Jail and Correctional Facility serves Fayette, Greenbrier, Mercer, Monroe, Raleigh, Summers, and Wyoming counties.

Southern Regional Jail and Correctional Facility Addresses

Physical Address

Southern Regional Jail and Correctional Facility
1200 Airport Road
Beaver, WV 25813

Mailing Addresses

Southern Regional Jail and Correctional Facility
1200 Airport Road
Beaver, WV 25813

Inmate Mailing Address

Inmate’s Full Name
Southern Regional Jail and Correctional Facility
1200 Airport Road
Beaver, WV 25813

Inmates at the Southern Regional Jail and Correctional Facility in West Virginia are allowed to send and receive mail.  However, like all facilities, there are specific rules regarding inmate mail.  These rules are not designed to prevent inmates from communicating with friends and family, but to increase security in the jail.  Mail that does not comply with the rules may be returned to sender, and if it violates any laws it can subject you to prosecution.

One of the most important things about jail mail is making sure that it is properly addressed.  Many people realize that they need to include a full address for the inmate.  The mail needs to have the inmate’s full name, not a nickname, alias, or other version of the inmate’s name.  Including the inmate’s booking number if you have it available.  List your return address.  It needs to include your full name and your correct mailing address.  All mail should be sent directly from the person listed on the return address.  There is no third-party mail.

Mail has to go through an approved delivery method in order to come to an inmate at the jail.  It cannot be hand-delivered.  In addition, deliveries through third-party companies, such as FedEx, UPS, and other delivery companies are not authorized.  The mail needs to come through the USPS.

All incoming and outgoing mail is subject to monitoring.  Legal mail is an exception, though it may be inspected for contraband in the presence of the inmate.

Mail should be on plain white paper and it should be written in a plain ink, like blue or black ink.  The jail may not allow drawings to be included in the mail, or, if it does, it may have specific rules about the drawings.  Letters should not include: lipstick, glitter, perfume, paint, bodily fluids, or any unknown/unidentifiable substances.   Any greeting cards should be “plain” or “standard” greeting cards.  Any extraneous items on the card, such as music makers, moving parts, pop-ups, plastic, metal parts, or wooden parts are not permitted.

While inmates may be permitted to receive photos, there are often very specific rules about photos.  Not only may the number of photos per letter be limited, but an inmate may be limited to the total number of photographs that he or she can have in a cell.  In addition, most jails limit the size of photos that inmates can receive to 4x6 images or smaller.  They should generally be printed on regular photo paper, processed at a lab.  Sometimes a jail will allow inmates to receive photos printed on paper and processed at home, but check with the jail first before sending those photos.  Inmates cannot receive Polaroids or any similar self-developing photos.  The subject matter of the photos is also limited.  Photos cannot contain any pornographic images or sexually explicit imagery.  In addition, photos should not contain any nudity, including any nudity that is not sexual in nature.

The jail prohibits inmates from receiving contraband.  Contraband items generally fall into two categories.  Any items that could disrupt the jail, threaten safety of the inmates or jail staff, or lead to an inmate escaping are considered dangerous contraband.  Examples of these type of dangerous contraband items include: weapons, drugs, alcohol, cigarettes and other nicotine-containing products, cash, over-the-counter medications, prescription medications, items that can be modified to make weapons, gang-related materials, materials that are inflammatory, materials that are biased against race, materials that are biased against religious orientation, wire, batteries, cloth, escape plans, details about the schedules of any jail workers, materials promoting crimes, or anything that could be used to create escape plans such as blueprints of the jail or aerial photos of the jail.

Inmates may be able to receive material from a bookstore or a publisher.  These materials include books, magazines, and other printed materials.  However, the materials must be new, they must be sent directly from the publisher or from an authorized book seller.

Phone Numbers

The Southern Regional Jail and Correctional Facility’s main phone number is 304-256-6726.  To schedule non-contact visitation, you can call them at 304-256-6738.  The fax number is 304-256-6739.

Inmate Roster

Because West Virginia’s local level jails are consolidated into the West Virginia Regional Jail & Correctional Facility Authority.  They have an inmate search function that looks for inmates throughout the jails in their system.  You can search for inmates using three of more letters of their last name.  You cannot simply pull up a full jail roster to search.  When you get inmate records, they include: inmate last name, inmate first name, inmate sex, birthdate, height, weight, the inmate’s location, what type of inmate he or she is, the booking date, the issuing agency, the case number of the case against the inmate, bail type, and the bail amount.  In addition, there are booking photos/mugshots. 

Bookings / Recent Arrests

Because local jail inmates are processed through a central processing agency, the West Virginia Regional Jail & Correctional Facility Authority, bookings may not be focused on the jail, itself.  However, you can search West Virginia by county to find recent arrests and bookings in those counties.  The results give you an inmate’s full name, date of birth, the charges against the inmate, the case number, status, and booking date.

Southern Regional Jail Mugshots

Although neither the Southern Regional Jail and Correctional Facility nor the West Virginia Regional Jail & Correctional Facility Authority operate specific mugshot/booking photo databases, you can find booking photos/mugshots for inmates incarcerated in their system by using their inmate search function.  In addition to booking photos, you can find the following information in this same roster: inmate’s name, sex, date-of-birth, height, weight, location, booking date, bail information, and information about the charges.

Visitation

Visitation at the Southern Regional Jail and Correctional Facility is non-contact.  You can contact the jail at 304-256-6738 to schedule a visitation.  Phone hours are 8:00am through 3:30pm on visitation days.  However, if a holiday falls on the visitation day then you have to call on a prior visitation day.  Visits are one hour in duration.  When you call to schedule a visitation, you will be given a time to register for the visit.  You may only call once per day to schedule a visit.  Walk-in visits are not accepted.  For each visit, up to three people can visit.

The visitation schedule varies from day-to-day.  On Monday, there is no visitation, but you call on Mondays to schedule Tuesday visitation.  On Tuesday, visitation is from 7:30am to 10:30am, and you call on Tuesdays to schedule Wednesday visitation.  On Wednesday, there is no visitation, but you can call on Wednesdays to schedule Thursday visitation. On Thursday, visitation is from 3:00pm to 8:30pm, and you call for Saturday visitation.  On Fridays, there is no visitation and you call on Fridays for Sunday visitation.  On Saturdays, visitation is from 7:30am to 10:30am.  On Sundays, visitation is from 12:30pm to 3:30pm.

The Southern Regional Jail and Correctional Facility does not publish a dress code.  However, jails generally require modest dress for visitors, even in non-contact visitation scenarios.  Generally prohibited clothing includes anything revealing such as: short-shorts, miniskirts, short dresses, dresses or skirts with revealing slits, revealing necklines, low-cut shirts, midriff-baring shirts, see through clothing, mesh clothing, or clothing that is excessively tight.  All visitors should wear shirts and shoes.  Clothing should not have any obscene, profane, or violent messages or drawings.  In addition, visitors may be prohibited from bringing items into visitation with them.  Generally prohibited items include: cell phones, cameras, and other electronics; weapons; food; drinks; bags; car-keys; and writing utensils.  You will not be permitted to give anything to the inmate during visitation or to receive anything from the inmate during visitation.

Inmate Phone Privileges

Inmates at the Southern Regional Jail and Correctional Facility, as well as other jail facilities in the West Virginia Division of Corrections, cannot receive incoming phone calls.  If there is an emergency that you can verify, you can contact the jail facility and inform the on-duty staff about the emergency.  At their discretion, they may ask the inmate to contact you.  Otherwise, all phone calls are outgoing phone calls.  Inmates can make collect phone calls or use the jail department’s phone service provider.

The West Virginia Division of Corrections has a contract with CenturyLink for calling and account billing services.  You can visit the CenturyLink Public Communications Portal for more information about their calling system.  You can establish prepaid inmate calling accounts to set up phone calls.  You can make payments directly to an inmate’s calling account.  You can also set up a prepaid collect calling plan, which will allow the inmate to call cell phones or phone accounts that might have credit issues.  There may be restrictions on an inmate’s ability to call.  They may have limits on the length of their calls or available hours for the calls, or the number of total calls or total inmate call minutes.  Inmate calls can be monitored or recorded.  There may be blocks on certain types of calls and certain phone numbers.  In addition, inmates may face temporary or permanent restrictions on their call privileges.

Inmate Trust Accounts / Commissary

The West Virginia Division of Corrections uses an outside service provider for its inmate banking/trust accounts.  Like other jail systems, it uses commissary/canteen accounts, to allow inmates to purchase items from canteen.  They have a couple of different ways that you can deposit money into an inmate’s trust account.  You can call by phone at 888-988-4768 and you have to use the Site ID 179.  You can visit it on the website at www.ConnectNetwork.com or www.Jailatm.com.  You can also use apps to make the deposit, using the ConnectNetwork app that is available for both iOS and Android devices.

Bail Information

The Southern Regional Jail and Correctional Facility makes bail information for each inmate available on the West Virginia Division of Corrections inmate roster site.  Depending on the crime that is charged, a defendant may have special bail conditions.  For example, domestic violence and child abuses charges will both have restrictions about the person living with the alleged victim post release.  There are three ways to get out of jail in West Virginia: recognizance, cash bond, and recognizance with cash bond.  Bond will be refunded if an inmate makes all of his or her scheduled court appearances.  If you cannot pay the full amount of cash bail, then you have to use a bail bond company.  There are fees associated with that, which is usually 10 percent of the total amount of the bail.

Conclusion

The Southern Regional Jail and Correctional Facility is part of the West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation.  It is located at 1200 Airport Road in Beaver, West Virginia.  It services Fayette, Greenbrier, Mercer, Monroe, Raleigh, Summers, and Wyoming counties.  You can contact the jail at its main phone number, which is 304-256-6726.