Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, April 16, 1991 TAG: 9104160425
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The jail now joins facilities in Alexandria and Fairfax County as being accredited by the American Correctional Association.
"I am extremely proud of all the men and woman who work for the Sheriff's Office," Sheriff Alvin Hudson wrote in a letter informing City Council of the accreditation.
The city Sheriff's Department is responsible for running the jail, as well as serving court papers and providing courtroom security.
Hudson said he was especially pleased that jail officials achieved accreditation while dealing with a daily overcrowding problem. The jail was designed to hold 162 inmates when in opened 11 years ago, but began with 163 and now averages 350 a day with an operating capacity of 216.
Operations at the jail are not expected to change much because of accreditation. Still, Hudson said, the jail has benefited from more than a year of self-examination in working to meet almost 400 standards to make accreditation.
"There's no question that it helped improve our operations," he said. The standards cover such areas as the jail's administration, fiscal management, training, record-keeping, security, food service, sanitation and health care, work programs and other inmate services.
"We'll continue to meet all of those goals," Hudson said.
To be accredited by the ACA, a jail must be in compliance with all mandatory standards and 70 percent of the non-mandatory standards. Roanoke's jail met all the mandatory standards and 98 percent of the non-mandatory ones - one of the highest ratings ever received by a jail.
And while many jails take two or three attempts to receive accreditation, Roanoke obtained it on its first try. It now joins about 10 percent of jails and correctional facilities nationwide to receive accreditation.
by CNB