News

First Female Head Of West Virginia Prison System Retiring

By:
Posted on:

< < Back to first-female-head-of-west-virginia-prison-system-retiring

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) – The West Virginia Division of Corrections says acting commissioner Loita Butcher is retiring.

The division says on its Facebook page that Butcher’s retirement is effective Tuesday.

Gov. Jim Justice named Butcher to the post in March. She was the first woman to head the state prison system.

Butcher joined the Division of Corrections in 1994. She also had served as assistant corrections commissioner and chief of staff.

The division operates 16 facilities including maximum-security Mount Olive Correctional Complex and several work-release centers and supervises the state’s parolees. It also oversees Correctional Industries, which supplies goods and services to state agencies, county school systems and county and local governments.