Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, September 25, 1994 TAG: 9409260047
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: D-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: ARLINGTON LENGTH: Medium
Voters had approved the state-of-the-art building, the most modern yet built in Virginia, to replace an aging, jam-packed jail a few blocks away.
Seven months later, the new jail built for 509 has 538 inmates.
Much of the crowding has little to do with crime in Arlington and a great deal to do with politics in Richmond, Faust said.
``The state is not living up to the law now to remove their inmates from local jails,'' Faust said.
On any given day this month, about 1,800 criminals who were supposed to be in state prisons sat instead in jails such as Faust's. Criminals sentenced to prison typically remain in the jail of the jurisdiction where they were tried until the state finds a place for them.
The problem of state inmates in local jails is far from new, but it has worsened significantly since Gov. George Allen took office in January. Virginia's jail population increased 12.4 percent in eight months, from 14,410 in January to 16,200 in September.
Allen, who campaigned with a pledge to abolish parole, installed a new Parole Board after he took office. The old board approved about 40 percent of the parole applications it reviewed; the new board is granting about 5 percent.
That means far fewer spots open up in prisons.
``It's an unacceptable passing of the buck to localities that already have overcrowded conditions in their jails,'' said Alexandria Sheriff James H. Dunning. ``It costs money, and it is very dangerous for staff and inmates alike.''
Dunning has space for 343 inmates but houses about 450. The extras sleep on mattresses on the floor. About 30 of them should be in prison, he said.
``That's nothing compared to Richmond, Norfolk, Roanoke. They're just busting at the seams,'' Dunning said.
Indeed, some Virginia jails are operating far over capacity, with inmates stacked double or triple in their cells.
In Roanoke, as many as 556 inmates have been jammed into a jail built for 236. Fires, fights and a near-riot have broken out in recent weeks. A week ago, 16 inmates briefly took over a cellblock in the jail's maximum-security area.
The Norfolk jail, where inmates rampaged last week, has about 1,400 inmates packed into space designed for 579. The U.S. Justice Department is considering a lawsuit to reduce the crowding.
Overcrowding in urban jails would not end if the state took all its prisoners. Jails still would be pinched by the increasing number of inmates who either are denied bond or cannot afford it. They wait out their trials in jail, often languishing for months after their arrests.
Jails that are crowded are more difficult to control, and inmates housed with few comforts tend to be less cooperative, sheriffs say. Also, the sheer numbers in the most crowded jails overwhelm jail services such as kitchens, infirmaries and laundries. Diseases and ailments ranging from the common cold to tuberculosis also thrive.
Allen's proposal to abolish parole entirely for inmates sentenced after Jan. 1 could make the situation worse before it gets better, according to a legislative study released this month.
A Senate Finance Committee study predicted the backlog of state prisoners in local jails may exceed 7,000 by next June.
Even assuming Allen's plan to build 27 prisons proceeds on schedule, the Finance Committee study said jail populations will swell 39 percent in the next decade.
The number of inmates over and above the jails' approved capacity will increase from about 5,000 this year to more than 9,000 in 1996, before dropping off to about 4,000 in 1997 and fewer than 1,000 the next year, when several new prisons will be operating.
A law passed five years ago was supposed to relieve the problem of state inmates in local jails. Virginia now has 60 days to find a place in prison for inmates sentenced to three years or more. Those sentenced to less time may serve their terms in jail. Next year, the state is supposed to take all inmates sentenced to two years or more.
But Department of Corrections Director Ronald Angelone said the department can't comply with the law before 1997.
``This has been a problem in Virginia since I was a warden here in 1978,'' he said. ``It's been a neglected problem, and it's never been dealt with head-on. We're trying to deal with it head-on.''
In Arlington this month, Faust is housing and feeding 43 inmates who ought to be in state prisons. He estimates it costs $50 a day to look after each of them, a task the state pays him $14 per inmate per day to perform.
``The outlook is a little bleak,'' Faust said. ``If the state can't meet its mandates today, what's going to be the likelihood of them being able to keep them down the road?"
I have some concerns about that.''
by CNB