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Division of Corrections eliminating 45 vehicles

2/2/2017

Feb. 2, 2017

Division of Corrections eliminating 45 vehicles

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Gov. Jim Justice announced today that the West Virginia Division of Corrections is cutting 45 vehicles from its fleet, a move that will save taxpayers around $60,000 a year.

For additional savings, Corrections is also reducing the number of vehicles assigned to individuals and has adopted the more stringent standard of replacing vehicles after five years or 120,000 miles over the four-year/100,000-mile benchmark set by the state’s Office of Fleet Management. The new standard applies to all vehicles not equipped for the secure transport of inmates.

“These action steps will allow us to reduce the size of our fleet and will generate cost savings for the people of West Virginia without significantly impacting our ability to perform daily operational tasks or respond to emergency situations,” Corrections Commissioner Jim Rubenstein said.

The commissioner has relinquished his assigned vehicle, as has the agency’s deputy commissioner, assistant commissioner for operations and the directors of safety and investigations. The vehicles being eliminated include several leased later-model sedans and SUVs as well as older trucks, vans and military surplus vehicles that will be retired.

Corrections is part of the Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety, which is revising its vehicle use policy to embrace best practices and the latest Fleet Management rules. Other action steps include regularly evaluating the fleet to identify under-used vehicles that can be retired or returned under Fleet Management rules, and ensuring that employees assigned vehicles document after-hours emergency travel and account for vehicle use for tax purposes.

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