Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, February 9, 1993 TAG: 9302090277
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
ACTION SOUGHT ON JAIL
Roanoke Circuit Court judges have put Roanoke City Council on notice that it needs to act "quickly and effectively" to deal with overcrowding in the city jail.If council doesn't act soon, the judges hinted Monday, they will order the city to take steps to ease the overcrowding.
In a letter to council, Chief Judge Roy B. Willett said Sheriff Alvin Hudson has made clear the potential danger of the overcrowding to the jail staff, inmates and public.
"We all realize that neither the governing body nor the judiciary can long countenance such a state of affairs," Willett said.
Mayor David Bowers said Monday night he considers the letter to be the final step before the judges direct council to deal with the problem.
Bowers thinks council must act within 60 to 90 days to avoid a court order. He expects council to deal with the problem.
The jail overcrowding is on the agenda for council's meeting on Wednesday for long-range building projects, Bowers said.
The five-story jail has a rated capacity of 216 inmates, but has housed up to 500 prisoners in recent months.
City officials are studying the possibility of expanding the jail by acquiring the Datasafe Co. building at 330 West Campbell Ave. and converting into an annex.
Conversion of the records-keeping building would cost $5 million to $7 million and provide space for 220 additional inmates.
Datasafe, a business records management company, is willing to sell its building.
Architects also are looking at a vacant office building next to Datasafe to determine if it could be used in the expansion project.
To handle the overflow, three prisoners have been crammed into cells. Almost all the cells have two built-in bunks, and a mattress is sometimes placed on the floor to make room for a third inmate.
The city began looking at the Datasafe building after preliminary studies indicated it would cost $12 million to $15 million to expand the jail or build a new one.
Willett said the judges appreciate the efforts by Hudson and City Manager Bob Herbert to deal with the problem.
"We strongly support your efforts to proceed as rapidly as possible with plans to relieve the crisis at the jail, whether these plans involve purchase or construction of a jail annex, other facility expansion, or creation and construction of a jail farm," Willett said.
"Like all responsible public officials, we recognize that there are more demands than ever for public dollars, and fewer public dollars available for discretionary allocation.
"Relief of jail overcrowding, we are afraid, is no longer discretionary - it is not something that can, consistent with the safety and welfare of the public in general, be postoned."
The judges said they are making use of alternatives to incarceration to help keep down the jail population.
Part of the overcrowding problem is caused by a new state law that keeps the state Department of Corrections from having to accept inmates serving prison terms of five years or less.
For months, Hudson has been saying the city must ease the jail overcrowding to help prevent fights or riots.
He also is worried about the threat of a class-action lawsuit by inmates.
Bowers said council has confidence in Hudson and the way he is handling the problem.