ROANOKE TIMES

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, December 18, 1993                   TAG: 9312210250
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-11   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: New River Valley bureau
DATELINE: RADFORD                                LENGTH: Short


JAIL PANEL DISCUSSES EXPENSE

A proposed regional jail for six or more localities will cost an estimated $3.7 million a year to operate, including $2.9 million for 119 staff members.

Those were the figures given to the regional jail study committee Friday by its consultants. The committee has to complete its study by mid-January to qualify for 50 percent state funding on the project.

The engineering consultants estimated that it would take 18 months to two years to construct the facility, once all the preliminary work is done. The earliest that it could be completed would probably be 1998.

So far, the city of Radford and counties of Pulaski, Floyd, Giles, Carroll and Grayson are participating in the project. Wythe County had helped fund earlier regional jail studies but, so far, has not contributed toward the current one.

Assistant Radford City Manager Bob Lloyd said a committee goal is to offer jobs at the regional jail for all employees who would be displaced at local jails at salaries comparable to what they had been getting.

The committee authorized the formation of a board with two representatives from each participating locality, although there was committee sentiment to a leaner board of one member each. The board can cut its size later if it decides a smaller number would be more effective.

The committee spent 80 minutes in closed session discussing possible sites for the regional jail, but made no decision.



 by CNB