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

DATE: TUESDAY, September 27, 1994                   TAG: 9409270110
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: By SARAH HUNTLEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

CITY COUNCIL APPROVES FUNDING FOR JAIL ANNEX

Roanoke City Council unanimously approved a $7.25 million contract for construction of a jail annex Monday, signaling that relief is on the way for inmates and deputies frustrated by severe overcrowding.

J.M. Turner & Company Inc. of Roanoke hopes to start construction within a month, a company spokesman said. Originally estimated at $6.7 million, the project includes remodeling the Miller Morgan & Co. and Datasafe Co. buildings next door to the jail.

The work crews cannot start soon enough for Sheriff Alvin Hudson, who has complained for years that his facility is teeming with more than twice the inmates it was designed to house.

"I'd like for them to start today," Hudson said.

The city jail should hold no more than 236 prisoners. In August, the average population was 537, Hudson said, and last weekend, the jail reached its high - 563 inmates. The situation will worsen if Gov. George Allen's plan to abolish parole is approved, Hudson said.

"We've had about 157 inmates for over three years who are the state's responsibility, but the prisons don't have room for them," he said. "If they don't have space for this 157 now, what in the world are we going to do with all the prisoners backing up for three or four years from now?"

Even if the governor secures funding to build new state prisons, Hudson said, those projects will take at least four years.

He ought to know. It has taken two years for the annex project to get this far.

"The Department of Corrections has fought us tooth and nail on this,'' he said. The most significant dispute was over the size of the annex.

The city had hoped to house an additional 220 inmates, but the state has limited the annex to 160 beds.

"We'll double-bunk them," Hudson said, "which will give us room for about 300. One-hundred and sixty beds only helps us deal with the 157 state prisoners we already have."

At Monday's meeting, City Manager Bob Herbert called the contract approval "a momentous step" but warned that the construction chaos and growing pains will continue for some time.

According to the city's agreement, J.M. Turner has 456 days to complete the project.

by CNB