CHARLESTON, WV - The state Division of Corrections plans to start publishing information about prison inmates on its Web site, something that other states have been doing for years.

Jim Rubenstein, corrections commissioner, said he'd like to see something online by the first of the year.

The division began upgrading its computer system about three years ago, and is still working on some aspects of it, Rubenstein said. Officials have been considering providing inmate information pages for a while, he said.

"We've brought a new computer system on board, and certainly one of the things we want to do is be able to provide the citizens of the state with this tool," Rubenstein said.

The division is still working on a statewide information system where data on inmates, their incarceration and crimes is collected. Carl Graves, who heads up the division's technology department, said officials are still compiling parole and probation data on inmates for the new system.

Any kind of comprehensive inmate information page will have to wait until the new system is completed, Graves said.

Graves said the inmate data system came about back when the state was looking into the issue of repeat offenders.

Graves said he'd like to see something online soon that at least lists inmates and where they're lodged.

Rubenstein, on the other hand, would rather wait.

"I don't want to do something halfway for the sake of doing it," he said.

In the meantime, the division has been looking at various states' online inmate pages for guidance. There are also legal issues to think about.

Just how extensive the information on the inmates is on West Virginia's site will depend on what the division's attorneys advise, Rubenstein said. But he'd like to see something as comprehensive as possible.

"We don't want to put anything out there that we shouldn't," Rubenstein said.

Specifically, detailed information about victims or in which programs inmates are participating are likely to be left off the site.

One of the states Rubenstein said the agency has studied is Georgia, which has a user-friendly and very detailed site.

Typing in a last name pulls up a list of people who are or were incarcerated in a Georgia prison. There are thousands of names.

The individual pages have photos, aliases, notable scars or tattoos, information on specific charges, counties where the inmate was convicted and prior sentences in the state. The site also includes inmates' projected release dates and when they're next up for parole.

The Georgia site was one that stood out to Rubenstein, he said.

Corrections departments in Ohio, Kentucky and North Carolina also have detailed Web sites when it comes to prison inmates.

A less comprehensive site is Maryland's. That one lists only dates of birth, inmate identification numbers and where the inmates are housed.

Virginia's corrections Web site is complicated and difficult to use. If you don't have the inmate's ID number or know their exact name, it's going to be hard to pull up a page.

Since 2001, the West Virginia Regional Jail Authority on its site has posted mug shots and a limited amount of information about people lodged in regional jails.

Steve Canterbury, a former authority director, said the authority began posting the information in response to relatives flooding the authority with calls asking about people who may or may not be in the jails.

The media also wanted pictures to use in newspapers and on television, Canterbury said.

The authority's Web site has photos, case numbers, counties where the offender was charged and vital statistics.

The local American Civil Liberties Union was a little uneasy when the state unveiled the jail site, Canterbury said.

There was concern about the rights of the offenders when their photos were online for all to see.

But the ACLU never mounted a formal challenge, Canterbury said.