Lawsuit cites complaints about conditions at W.Va. jail

BEAVER, W.Va. (AP) — A federal civil rights lawsuit has been filed against a West Virginia jail on behalf of current and former inmates who have described conditions at the facility as inhumane.

The complaint filed last week about conditions at Southern Regional Jail in Beaver references a lack of access to water and food, as well as overcrowded conditions and fights that were allowed to continue until someone was injured, WVVA-TV reported.

A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security told the station that the agency could not comment on ongoing litigation, but an investigation of conditions at the jail earlier this year found no evidence of inhumane treatment.

Republican Gov. Jim Justice ordered the investigation in March after WVVA reported allegations of water deprivation, failure to provide toilet paper and inmates having to sleep on hard floors without a mattress.

“Our investigators talked with a bunch of people and pulled a bunch of records and, at the end of the day, they determined that the allegations were simply not true,” Justice said in an April statement.