Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, April 14, 1993 TAG: 9304140268
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: MICHAEL STOWE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
COUNCIL DELAYS JAIL BARB
A letter from Montgomery County's attorney has prompted Blacksburg Town Council to delay action on a resolution that criticizes the county for not honoring a contract to staff the jail annex and electronic magistrate program.The letter, from Roy B. Thorpe Jr., asked Town Council to find "more constructive ways of addressing the continued operation of the temporary detention facility."
It also points out several inaccuracies that the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors, who discussed the resolution at its meeting Monday night, feel are included in the resolution.
Instead of voting on the resolution, the council decided to invite Sheriff Ken Phipps and the Board of Supervisors to its April 27 meeting to discuss the matter.
The Blacksburg lockup is equipped with a fiber-optic closed-circuit television link with the county magistrate's office so that prisoners don't have to be taken to Christiansburg for processing.
The town spent about $100,000 for the jail annex and electronic magistrate and provided $15,000 a year toward the operation of the program.
The county spent roughly $65,000 for the facilities and agreed to staff the jail annex.
Blacksburg Town Manager Ron Secrist said county officials have a different interpretation than the town about the contract that the two localities agreed to in 1991.
Blacksburg officials, according to the resolution, thinks the county is not fulfilling its agreement to staff the facility 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
"This council objects to the sheriff's erratic or nonexistent staffing and operation of the jail annex," the resolution said.
The Board of Supervisors disagrees, saying the county never agreed to staff the facility around the clock.
"The contract contains no such requirement and it is therefore requested the resolution be corrected to delete this error," Thorpe's letter said.
The electronic magistrate, according to the resolution, has saved the town more than 2,000 work hours and $12,000 in vehicle maintenance per year. The average time it takes a Blacksburg officer to make an arrest has been cut from 90 to 32 minutes.
Blacksburg's electronic magistrate program received the Virginia Municipal League's 1992 Public Safety Achievement Award.
But in September, county officials gave the required 12-month notice to terminate its contract to staff the facility. The contract will expire Oct. 1.
The county's reasons for pulling out of the contract are the state Compensation Board's refusal to pay for jailers to operate the lockup and state cutbacks in funding for the jail staff in Christiansburg.
Phipps said the electronic magistrate serves Blacksburg well, but he doesn't have enough officers to staff the facility around the clock. The sheriff said the county is trying to staff the jail annex Thursdays through Sundays because those are the peak times for arrests in Blacksburg.