There are currently 42 parole officers in Parkersburg, West Virginia, as well as 15 support staff members and 3 administrators, all of which are tasked with supervising about 2,500 offenders at any given time.
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Parkersburg, West Virginia, and the surrounding areas are part of the northwestern region of the Parole Services Agency (under the West Virginia Department of Corrections). In addition to Parkersburg, which is also the site of the office of the Northwestern Regional Director’s office, the northwestern region encompasses the following areas:
Eligibility and Training for Parkersburg, West Virginia Parole Officer Jobs
Requirements – Only those candidates who are at least 21 years old, possess a valid West Virginia driver’s license, and possess a bachelor’s degree in psychology, sociology, social work, or corrections (or a related field) are eligible to become parole officers in Parkersburg, West Virginia.
Further, all eligible candidates should expect to undergo a thorough criminal record check prior to being hired, and all individuals applying for these jobs should be prepared to serve in any part of the state.
Training – Training is an important component of parole officer careers in West Virginia. Therefore, all new parole officers should expect to complete 5 weeks of training at the West Virginia Corrections Academy, which is located in Ripley, West Virginia. Training begins at 5:00AM daily during Academy training, and all parole officers must take a number of courses, all the while maintaining, at a minimum, a 70 percent score on all written examinations.
Annual training for parole officers in West Virginia includes at least 40 hours of training, which is coordinated and conducted by a parole service institutional training coordinator. Parole officers may also satisfy part of their annual training requirement hours by taking graduate courses or by attending seminars or other closely related training.
About Parole Services in Parkersburg
West Virginia Parole Services’ parole officers were able to collect more than $1.2 million in supervision fees in 2012, which reduced the annual Parole Services operating budget by about one-third.
Parole Services and the parole officers in West Virginia provide a number of treatment options to parolees, including supervision for alcohol and drug abusers and counseling for sex offenders. Parole officers often refer parolees to community resources as to allow parolees to take advantage of education, employment, and mental health programs.
Parole Services maintains an electronic monitoring program, which includes GPS technologies, alcohol testing, and home confinement. Parole officers were able to collect about $204,000 in electronic monitoring fees in 2012.