CHARLESTON, WV (WOWK) — The man appointed to be the West Virginia Department of Homeland Security’s (WVDHS) Inspector General (IG) is now working as an IG in a new capacity for the state.

West Virginia Secretary of Homeland Security Secretary Jeff Sandy tells 13 News that Jimmy Stout is now Inspector General for the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (WVDOC).

The change in position comes at a time when the West Virginia Department of Homeland Security is still investigating the West Virginia State Police.

Stout is now tasked, Sandy says, with helping the new West Virginia Commissioner of Corrections William Marshall. 

According to Sandy there is no “nefarious reason” he is leaving the WVDHS as IG only to help at a time when the West Virginia DOC is facing serious challenges. 

Stout was appointed to the position of Inspector General in September 2022.  He previously worked as a trooper with the West Virginia State Police, served as the Chief Correctional Officer at North Central Regional Jail, and as the Superintendent of the Donald R. Kuhn Juvenile Center in Julian.

The WVDOC Is dealing with a whole host of issues among them overcrowding and understaffing and lawsuits filed on behalf of inmates who died while in DOC custody.  In August 2022 Governor Jim Justice declared a state of emergency within the system and the National Guard has been helping to fill several roles in the jail so that jail employees can work directly with the inmates.

According to Secretary Sandy the DHS WVSP Investigation was a team effort of which Stout was a part as Inspector General.

Sandy says there were two former Kanawha County Prosecutors working the case, two general counsel attorneys and two paralegals, along with Sandy and Deputy Cabinet Secretary Rob Cunningham.