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

DATE: THURSDAY, June 24, 1993                   TAG: 9306240189
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C4   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER SOUTHWEST BUREAU
DATELINE: WYTHEVILLE                                LENGTH: Medium

HALFWAY HOUSE IN WYTHE UNLIKELY, OFFICIAL SAYS

But the bureau might seek a site elsewhere in Western Virginia.

Director Kathleen M. Hawk said in a letter to County Administrator Billy R. Branson that the matter should be settled by the end of July.

Hawk's letter to Branson said the bureau had awarded Secor a contract for an eight-bed community corrections center to help nonviolent felons whose sentences were nearly completed to adapt to society before release.

But she said it is being re-evaluated since the bureau learned that Secor failed to notify local law enforcement and government officials of its plans. When Sheriff Wayne Pike and the Wythe County Board of Supervisors learned of the facility, they notified Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Abingdon, and other officials of their opposition.

"Given the current circumstances, there are serious doubts Secor will ever be able to perform at this site," Hawk wrote to Branson.

Wythe County officials are assuming the matter is over. Boucher said federal officials have assured him that community opposition will prevent the bureau from approving the halfway house, at the former Trail Motel in Max Meadows.

A letter to Boucher from John L. Clark on behalf of Hawk said Secor would get a chance to propose an alternate site somewhere "in the greater Roanoke/Western Virginia area" that would have public support.

The need for such a facility still exists in Southwest Virginia, Hawk said in her letter to Branson. "Accordingly, after successful resolution of this issue, the bureau is hopeful a contract can be successfully awarded, which meets all [Bureau of Prisons] requirements and is acceptable to the community."

Branson sent an inquiry to Gov. Douglas Wilder asking if the state might contract with Secor to use the facilities.

Wilder had Deputy Secretary of Public Safety Theophlise L. Twitty write a response. Twitty said that the state has no intention of using the proposed halfway house for any of its prisoners.