In 1974 the Wood County Jail opened and served as a full time facility until 2001. At this time the regional jail authority was formed and all inmates serving sentences were transferred to the North Central Regional Jail located at Greenwood, WV in Doddridge County.

The Wood County Jail then became a 12 hour holding center providing service to all police agencies in the county and regional jails, to hold inmates for court and to transport inmates to the North Central Regional Jail, if necessary.

Wood County was the first county in the state to implement a Home Confinement Operation. This operation began in the late 1980's, Steven George (adult probation) and Arthur Gustke (circuit judge) at the time, were instrumental in starting the home confinement program. Inmates that qualified were placed on home confinement monitoring in lieu of serving time in the regional jail, reducing the cost of inmate maintainance for the county.

The holding center and home confinement have been combined and now operate as Confinement Operations.

Administrator Steven Stephens

Director Steve Stephens is a recently retired member of the Vienna Police Department after serving 28 years to the citizens of Vienna and Wood County. Steve served as Chief of Police for the past 5 years.  He attended Marshall University and is a graduate of the FBI National Academy and West Virginia State Police Academy. During his law enforcement career, Steve began as a Wood County Deputy Sheriff. Steve worked on the Parkersburg Violent Crimes and Narcotics Task Force for 6 years including the position of Task Force Commander. He also served on the WV FBI Joint-Terrorism Task Force in Charleston, WV. He is a Certified Police Instructor and Firearms Instructor. Steve stays active in a number of organizations including the West Virginia Chiefs of Police Association where he currently holds the office of Treasurer.