Agriculture Dept. still deciding site of hog farm to feed inmates

A West Virginia Department of Agriculture spokesman says the agency hasn’t yet selected a site for a hog farm that would help feed state inmates.

     Last week, Mingo County Revelopment Authority director Steve Kominar told the authority’s board that the county had been chosen as a site for the hog farm.
 
     Department of Agriculture spokesman Butch Antolini said Tuesday that Mingo County is one of several locations being looked at in the southern coalfields.
 
     Agriculture Commissioner Walk Helmick says the state buys more than 100,000 pounds of pork annually from outside the state to feed inmates in state prisons. That doesn’t include regional jails and juvenile facilities.
 
     Helmick says taxpayer dollars used to feed and house inmates should be spent in West Virginia.