"By 1993, City police could tell crack was more than just a "California" problem, and local prisoners of the Drug War swamped the Charlottesville-Albemarle Joint Security Complex. That year, the Regional Jail Authority decided to solve the problem by building more cells. It didn't work, however, and now a surplus of inmates remains a major problem for the board.

In the early'90s, the Commonwealth's unofficial motto might have been "Virginia is for Prisons." Under Republican governors George Allen and Jim Gilmore, jail construction boomed. With more cells than inmates, Virginia became a repository for prisoners from other states and overcrowded federal institutions.

Now, Virginia prisons are so full of out-of-state inmates that the State Department of Corrections is forcing local jails, like the Joint Security Complex on Avon Street, to house state-grown criminals.

The jail population is always in flux, but according to a headcount in early December, of the 503 inmates at the regional jail, 63 were State inmates and 27 were Federal inmates. Local jails are typically intended for inmates awaiting trial, or those serving sentences amounting to less than a year.

Under Virginia law, State inmates are supposed to stay in local jails only 60 days before being moved to State prisons, but the Jail Authority says VDOC habitually drags its feet in transferring its prisoners.

For VDOC, this is good business. It pays the Jail Authority between $8 and $14 per inmate per day; it costs the Authority about $53 per day to house one person. The State receives about $70 per day to house one out-of-state prisoner.

State budget problems are forcing VDOC to close some prisons, like one in Staunton last week. That makes it unlikely that VDOC will rush to incur the additional cost of pulling State inmates out of local jails.

In 2001- after the regional jail had opened a new wing adding 120 beds to increase its capacity to 389 inmates - a group of State convicts in Charlottesville sued VDOC, demanding to be transferred out of the facility. Despite the improvements, the Joint Security Complex was still overcrowded by more than 120 inmates, forcing as many as 60 people to share a single toilet, among other indignities. VDOC responded by transferring most of the plaintiffs, but the Jail Authority says the proportion of State inmates in Charlottesville continues to climb.

Charlottesville Police Chief Tim Longo says over-crowding at the jail can be a public safety issue if local magistrates release people on bond because there are no free cells. Longo says he doesn't know what goes on in the judges' minds, but officers often complain that people they arrest one day are back on the street the next.

"I think their feeling is that [the judges] just aren't getting it," says Longo. "Judges make their decisions in very stable environments. The feeling is, 'If the judges could see what the officers see, they would think twice about letting people out on their own recognizance.'"

Officials estimate that as many as 90 percent of inmates at the regional jail are there on drug-related convictions. In this week's profile, some members of the Jail Authority suggest it may be time to try something new with these prisoners, while others shift the blame to the State and say - despite the problems caused by Virginia's prison boom - that more jail cells are the best solution to overcrowding.

The Jail Authority is unique among local boards and commissions in that both its clients and employees are forbidden to address board members in public. Inmates can't speak because they're prisoners, and corrections officers are silenced by a rule enforced by Superintendent John Isom.

"This is a public segment," says Isom. "I don't think employees are public."

The profile does not include Nelson County Administrator Steve Carter, who declined repeated requests for an interview.

RICHARD JENNINGS, CHAIR

A retired professor of civil engineering at UVA and a four-year veteran to the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail Authority, Richard Jennings regards the pressure of State budget cuts to be almost as fierce as the pressure to solve the problem of overcrowding in the regional jail.

According to Jail Superintendent John Isom, more than 70 percent of the funding for the jail comes from the State-money intended for salaries for jail employees, reimbursements for State prisoners, construction projects and other smaller expenses. With reduced State funding, the jail cannot survive on the other 30 percent of its funds, provided by the three localities, the City of Charlottesville and the counties of Albemarle and Nelson. "The fact is, we need the State's funding to maintain our projects," says Jennings.

According to an October 18 report by the Virginia Office of Public Safety, State budget cuts to the Department of Corrections are resulting in a cumulative reduction of 461 positions and 295 layoffs, including the elimination of positions in local jail units, the reduction of direct inmate costs (including medical care, food and clothing) and the reduction of mental health programs and individual therapy for inmates.

While budget cuts loom, Jennings still pushes for the State to remove its inmates from the local facility "For some months we've been trying to find ways to encourage the State of Virginia to take the inmates destined for State prisons," says Jennings, as close to one-third of the regional jail's inmates are State-responsible inmates.

SHERIFF EDWARD ROBB

Since taking the office of Albemarle County Sheriff in January 2000, Edward Robb has come to realize that the problems of overcrowding make the jail more dangerous.

"The more people you try to cram into a small space, the harder they are to manage. Nobody wants to be here in the first place," says Robb. He says his first priority is moving State-responsible inmates out of the regional jail and into State penitentiaries.

"The Jail Authority continues to pressure the State to move them, but one of the problems is that circuit court clerks haven't got the paperwork ready to get them moved," says Robb. "We're moving on the assumption that the State isn't taking responsibility for their prisoners."

The former Virginia state senator and FBI agent maintains that there is always discussion of expanding the regional jail, but he also believes that "you build the facilities, and they will always be filled. It's a lot like if you build the ballpark, they will come."

ROBERT TUCKER

Serving on the Regional Jail Authority is one of Robert Tucker's duties as Albemarle County Executive. Tucker believes that the current problems stem from the State's desire to save money, and the inadequacy of recent construction projects at the jail.

A 1993 study recommended adding 240 new beds, but that was rejected by the City, Tucker says. The new construction - which is now mostly done, although two years past due and about $3 million over budget - provides only 120 beds, raising the jail's previous capacity from 209 to 329. Tucker says the minimized expansion has not helped ease the crowded conditions of the jail.

While realizing that the State has overcrowding problems as well, Tucker says State prisoners need to be in State facilities. Tucker's reasoning for the sluggish removal of State prisoners is "the longer they keep State prisoners in local facilities, the more money the State saves."

SHERIFF CORNELIA JOHNSON

Since her automatic appointment to the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail Authority in 1998 when she became the Charlottesville City Sheriff, Cornelia Johnson has become an advocate for two programs to ease crowded conditions in the regional jail - the electronic incarceration home-monitoring program and inmate work release.

Because of recent State budget cuts and a lack of funding for the regional jail, Johnson admits that overcrowded conditions "are probably going to get worse before they get better," but home-monitoring and work release programs are currently helping to ease the crowded conditions.

Only a handful of inmates are eligible for home monitoring, however. Only non-violent criminals sentenced to less than two years, who live within 35 miles of the jail and whose crime did not involve sex, abduction, drug distribution, weapons, escapes, parole violations or domestic assaults within the last five years are eligible for home monitoring. There are currently 10 inmates - 1.8 percent of the total population - in the program.

"We just want to make sure that the prisoner wouldn't be a harm to the community or to their immediate family," says Johnson.
The 31 enrolled inmates on work release are allowed to maintain their jobs, go to work during the day and return to the jail each night. While these programs aren't able to provide permanent solutions to overcrowding, Johnson recognizes that they can at least relieve conditions during the day.

JOHN CHAMALES

Only in his fourth month of service to the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail Authority, John Chamales may be the newest member of the Authority, but he knows about jail issues. Five years of past volunteer work with Offender Aid and
Restoration have given him a strong familiarity with the corrections program, he says.

Having worked to help inmates adapt to outside society after their release, including help with employment and housing aid and providing counseling through OAR, Chamales believes that one of the largest problems facing the jail is the large number of inmates being held for lower level drug-related offenses.

"I don't know if a lot of those people need to be in jail," says Chamales, "but that's not up to me, it's up to the judges."

Combatting the idea that the swelling number of inmates currently being held is the result of a rise in the crime rate, Chamales believes that this overcrowding of facilities and increase in inmate numbers is a side effect of the economic downturn.

"With unemployment rates up, many people who cannot find jobs turn to crime," says Chamales. "What we really need to do is speed up the process of transferring State inmates to State facilities, but as a new member, I still have a lot to learn."

BLAKE CARAVATI

As former mayor of Charlottesville and a current City councilor and member of the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail Authority since 1998, Blake Caravati regards the failure of the State to live up to its responsibility to fund jails, as well as the State budget crisis, as the two defining issues of the regional jail.

Caravati also blames the State for shirking its duty to house its prisoners to save money. "More and more State prisoners will stay local," says Caravati. "It's a tax increase, I don't care how you look at it.

"If it were me, I would be much more aggressive. If they want us to keep State prisoners, the State has to pay us," says Caravati. "But we don't even want them because we don't have room:"

Caravati further recognizes the difficulties caused by the lack of funds available in the Department of Corrections and State budget cuts. Programs including drug rehabilitation for inmates are threatened by budget cuts, a program supported by Caravati, who says, "We want to punish people, but we really want to rehabilitate them, too. Sometimes jail is really not the best answer."

IDA LEWIS

A former crossing guard with a life-long desire to be in law enforcement, former Deputy Sheriff Ida Lewis says she wants to remedy crime problems at the source, to make inmates realize "there's more to life than living behind bars."

An enthusiastic advocate of work-release programs for inmates, Lewis emphasizes the value of letting inmates hold jobs during their sentence. "If they can cook, let them get a job at a restaurant - don't just send them to jail and make them think that we're not paying attention to them," says Lewis.

"I just want more programs outside of the jails. We have repeat offenders in jail, and we should give them something to look forward to when they get out," she says.

Besides programs outside the jail, Lewis has spurred discussion on creating more programs inside the jail, including English, math and literature courses.

"If they are going to stay in jail, they may as well learn something while they are there, and this will only help them get into the work force when they're released," says Lewis.

Lewis' solution to overcrowding differs from her colleagues in that she seeks to remedy incarcerations by stopping them at what she perceives to be the root: lack of education. "I would like to see more children getting more than just a G.E.D. We would have less crime if people were educated from the start," says Lewis.

CHARLES MARTIN

As liaison between the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors and the Jail Authority, and approaching his first complete year of service to the Authority, Charles Martin regrets the decision of the City to minimize the nearly complete five-year expansion project, yet still has hopes to ease jail conditions through promoting an extensive work-detail program for the regional jail.

While a proponent of programs such as work release, where prisoners maintain their everyday jobs, Martin wants a substantial work-detail program for more than the elite group of 31 inmates it currently employs. Martin recognizes the possible adoption of highways and parks as valuable opportunities for inmates to vacate the jail during the day and help the community at the same time.

"I want regular prisoners to be able to go out and work, and this will help ease the overcrowding during the day," says Martin.

Also citing the current expansion project as a major issue for the jail, Martin expresses regret in the halving of the number of beds initially planned in the expansion. A member of the Board of Supervisors at the time of the decision, Martin, along with the Board, was in favor of the full expansion, and regards the decision by the City as a hinderance in solving the issue of overcrowding.

SHERIFF GARY BRANTLEY

Having served 27 years in law enforcement and nearly three years as Nelson County sheriff, Gary Brantley is concerned about the closing of prisons throughout the State as a catalyst for overcrowding, and is seeking to expand home incarceration programs to improve living conditions in the regional jail.

Citing the example of the Nelson County Jail, a small jail that closed down on April 15, 1998, Brantley is concerned that if jails are consistently being shut down, overcrowding can only get worse. The recent closing of the Staunton Correctional Facility is only further evidence of the widespread closing of correctional facilities throughout Virginia, while the remaining jails consistently exceed their intended capacities by a large margin.

"It's not easy to get paroled, and with the State shutting some facilities down, overcrowding will only get worse," says Brantley.

While feeling the need to move State-responsible inmates to State prisons, Brantley is now moving to expand the electronic incarceration home-monitoring program, and while the strict guidelines of the program allow few criminals, besides check bouncers, traffic violators and few others, to participate, Brantley views this program as a small step to relieving overcrowded conditions.

GARY O'CONNELL

While City manager Gary O'Connell is hopeful about advances made by the Jail Authority to combat overcrowded conditions through constructing a new wing, he worries that the jail is in danger both because of its dependence on State funding, and the insecurity of that funding.

Recent discussions of State budget cuts have given O'Connell cause to worry about the security of the regional jail funding. "If the State doesn't fund us and doesn't live up to a time-honored commitment, then we're faced with either the community supporting us or making cuts," says O'Connell.

According to O'Connell, inmate rehabilitation programs, including work release, drug rehabilitation and counseling services will most likely be among the first programs to be cut should the State reduce funding, which is becoming a greater possibility as plans are made to cut financial support for the Blue Ridge Juvenile Detention Center in Charlottesville by 40 percent.

"If they do the same thing to the jail that they're doing to the juvenile detention center, we're going to be in big trouble," says O'Connell.

Encouraged by the recent expansion of the jail, O'Connell is confident that living conditions in the jail are much better than they used to be, admitting that inmates in the past were often confined to living in the gymnasium, and described the scene as similar to a large dormitory. "They are not ideal living conditions, but it's much better than it has been in the past," says O'Connell." (Maura O'Brien and John Borgmeyer, Extra!, C-VILLE Weekly, December 17 - 23, 2002)