ROANOKE CITY JAIL ANNEX FACES CASH GRANT IMPASSE

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

DATE: THURSDAY, April 15, 1993                   TAG: 9304150185
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium
ROANOKE CITY JAIL ANNEX FACES CASH GRANT IMPASSE
Roanoke's plan for a $7 million annex to relieve overcrowding in the City Jail has hit a snag that could reduce the number of inmates the annex could hold.
The space problem also might delay the project.
The city has proposed that each two-inmate cell in the annex contain 85 square feet, but the state Department of Corrections wants them larger. The state is considering a new requirement that would call for two-inmate cells to contain 120 square feet.
Cell size is important because it will determine the number of inmates that can be housed in the proposed annex in Datasafe Co.'s building at 330 W. Campbell Ave. next to the jail.
City officials had planned on housing 220 inmates in the building now occupied by the business records management company.
But they apparently will have to reduce the number of cells if the state sticks with its proposed space requirement.
Sheriff Alvin Hudson was not available for comment Wednesday, but his top assistant, George McMillan, said the space issue has not been resolved.
"We have met with [state corrections officials] to discuss it.
We will have a problem if the state sticks with 120 square feet," McMillan said.
McMillan said architects are calculating the number of inmates that the jail annex could hold if the state's proposal is approved, but he doesn't have it yet.
The city wants the state to pay 25 percent of the cost for the annex. To get the $1,750,000 in state funds, the city would have to comply with the state's requirements on space and other design features.
Mike Howerton, chief of operations for the Corrections Department, said Wednesday that the state is negotiating with the city on the size of the cells and other issues. "We are still reviewing with them," he said.
The cells in the current city jail are 70 square feet. They were designed to hold one prisoner, but have been doubled and tripled bunked to accommodate overcrowding.
The jail has a capacity of 216 inmates, but has housed more than 500 on some days.
Howerton said the state's current standards call for 70 square feet of space for each inmate. Cells for two inmates are suppose to contain 140 square feet, but the city is not complying with that standard.
"The 120-square-feet requirement is lower than what we have now," Howerton said. "We think it's very reasonable."
The change in the cell size is part of an overall revision of the state's standards for localities that seek state funds for jail projects.
"In revising our standards, we are setting requirements for multiple-occupancy calls," Howerton said.
The revisions will be considered by the Corrections Board next month, to be followed by a public comment period. The new requirements might become effective by July, Howerton said.
Roanoke City Council has voted to issue general obligation bonds to pay the city's share of the jail annex, and expansion of the Juvenile Detention Home at Coyner Springs.
Smokers and car owners will pay for the expansions. Council has voted to increase the city cigarette tax from 14 cents to 17 cents a pack and the automobile license decal from $15 to $20 a year.
The tax increases will produce $630,000 a year that will be used to repay the bonds needed to finance the projects.
The cigarette tax increase will take effect July 1; the higher decal fee will take effect April 15, 1994. It was too late to make the higher decal fee effective this year, city officials said.

by Bhavesh Jinadra by CNB