Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 21, 1990 TAG: 9003212352
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A1 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: KEVIN KITTREDGE SHENANDOAH BUREAU
DATELINE: LEXINGTON LENGTH: Medium
In a letter to the county Board of Supervisors this week, the sheriff said he would "prefer to continue as jail administrator" but added that board members could consider the letter his letter of resignation if they think fit.
"This letter may be considered my resignation as jail administrator, subject to the acceptance by a majority of the Board of Supervisors of Rockbridge County and the acquiescence of the other parties to the jail contract," the sheriff wrote.
The sheriff serves as jail administrator in addition to his duties as county sheriff. In his letter, Spence said his offer should "in no way be considered as any change in my position as sheriff."
Spence's letter also was critical of a recently completed jail investigation, saying the investigator failed to talk to him. The report into jail management practices was commissioned by the Rockbridge Regional Jail Commission and has not been released.
Glenn Thomas, the former state Department of Corrections official who conducted the investigation, declined to discuss the sheriff's letter. "I'm not aware of it, and I don't have any comment," said Thomas, of Roanoke.
An investigation by state police also is under way at the request of the sheriff himself, who has said he expects to be exonerated of recent allegations about the jail.
The sheriff has been accused of and criticized for letting some inmates wander free. He also has been accused of allowing an inmate to have sex with the inmate's wife in jail offices and cells, of deputizing the inmate and of using the inmate to intimidate others into making statements to police investigators.
Spence has denied using Michael Camden, an inmate serving a nine-year jail term for breaking and entering and malicious wounding, to intimidate other prisoners. Spence has also said conjugal visits are not allowed.
But he also said he "probably" deputized Camden, although he does not remember, and sometimes dropped Camden off at his home.
Spence's 2 1/2-page letter was still being delivered to local officials Tuesday night. Much of the letter argues that to remove him as jail administrator and hire someone else would be expensive.
Spence said he is paid just $863 a year, in addition to his sheriff's salary, to run the jail.
Hiring someone else, he said, would mean paying another salary, buying new jail uniforms and cars for transporting prisoners, and hiring a maintenance worker. It would also require modifications to the communications systems, he said.
As of Tuesday, neither the board nor the jail commission had moved to have Spence removed as jail administrator.
Spence said his letter was written to "show them the alternatives." Despite his resignation offer, he stressed that he does not want to give up the job unless the Board of Supervisors wants him to.
County Supervisor Kenneth Moore said he had received the sheriff's letter but would not have an opinion on whether Spence should remain the jail administrator until Moore had seen the jail commission report.
Supervisor Charles Trimble said, "I haven't heard anything at all that I think is sufficient evidence for removing the sheriff from the jail. I think the man is very competent."
Trimble noted that he does not know what the report says.
Copies of the sheriff's letter also are marked for members of the jail commission and for the mayors and city or town councils of Lexington, Buena Vista, Goshen and Glasgow, all of which use the jail.
"We're hoping that they'll read this letter and see what has been accomplished and say, `Hey, we're in this together and we'll continue together,' " Spence said.
Dave DeHart, chairman of the jail commission, said he had no comment on the sheriff's letter. He said the commission will eventually make a formal statement about the jail report, which it has discussed with the sheriff at recent meetings in executive session.
Spence, in his letter, said he "gladly" accepted responsibility for being administrator of the new regional jail, even though it was beyond his required duties as sheriff.
". . . A new facility has been opened, and the size of the inmate population has increased by more than 500 percent," he wrote.
"The jail staff has increased sevenfold. . . . We have entered into contracts with the U.S. Department of Immigration and the U.S. Marshals Office, among others, to house prisoners. This correctional facility has been run with such efficiency that it generates sufficient income to cover the local portion of its expenses," the letter said.
"I don't see how in the world anyone's going to benefit from a change," the sheriff said Tuesday night.
by CNB