Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, September 3, 1994 TAG: 9409070069
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C4 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RADFORD LENGTH: Medium
Representatives of jurisdictions from Floyd County to Grayson County said they had found costs to be about the same between operating their own jails and paying into the regional venture. But local costs will rise sharply when the time comes to upgrade their aging jails or other problems occur, they said.
Only Radford has signed the agreement to pay its share of the costs, with the state paying half for the project. Floyd, Giles, Pulaski and Grayson counties are the other partners under a continuing resolution but are awaiting state confirmation on its share before formally signing.
Assistant Radford City Manager Bob Lloyd, regional-jail committee chairman, has notified Wythe, Carroll and Bland counties that they still could join the project before next Friday, but additional jurisdictions probably will have to be cut off by then so plans can be made final.
None of the three has expressed interest in joining, although Wythe and Carroll had shared in the costs of an earlier study required by the state.
The committee completed its application for state funds before March1. If it had failed to do so, the state would have covered only 25 percent of the costs. Tazewell County still can join the project under the 50 percent state participation.
The main obstacle to Tazewell County's being a partner in the regional jail is its distance from Pulaski County, where the facility probably will be located. Tazewell officials said it took them about 90 minutes to get to Friday's meeting at Radford.
Under the plan, the regional jail authority would handle transportation costs for prisoners between the jail and where they were arrested. That would include carrying them back and forth for court appearances.
Lloyd said localities probably would have to help with transportation for a short time at the start, until it could be determined what the demand would be for each locality. Then a pickup and delivery schedule would be worked out.
If Tazewell County were to be a partner in the venture, it would be able to send prisoners to the jail at daily costs ranging from an estimated $4.36 to about $9, depending on a variety of factors. Localities not part of the venture will pay $35 to $50 a day when their jails are full and they must send prisoners to the regional facility.
For that reason, it actually would be to the advantage of the participants if the remaining counties in the region do not join before Friday. The premium those counties would pay to send excess prisoners to the regional jail would help offset the costs of running it.
Lloyd said the city of Radford often must pay more than $50 a day to send excess prisoners to places like Bristol, Lexington and Farmville.
Tazewell County Attorney Deanis Simmons said distance could be a problem if a judge decided at 3 p.m. that a prisoner had to be in court that day.
She also was concerned about whether electronic communications between prisoners and their attorneys, as envisioned in the jail operating plan, could be kept confidential.
Tazewell County Supervisor Jim Jones asked about the possibility of including holding facilities for juveniles in the regional jail. The county now sends juvenile prisoners to a regional detention center at Christiansburg, but must pay the premium cost because it is not a partner in that venture.
Some of the other localities on the regional-jail committee are partners in the detention home, Lloyd said, so the question of adding juvenile facilities to the regional jail never has come up.
He and Floyd County Administrator Randy Arno suggested that a better procedure might be for Tazewell and other counties not affiliated with the detention center to approach its board about expanding and adding members.
Other factors that could affect costs for the 360-bed regional jail include whether to add double-bunking to its plans. Cells now are planned for single occupancy. The plant will be built so it can be expanded to 600 beds. If everything happens as scheduled, it would open in 1998.
by CNB