Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, July 2, 1994 TAG: 9407040132
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RADFORD LENGTH: Medium
Committee representatives may seek a meeting with state legislators, correction officials and others before the General Assembly convenes in special session in September on the matter.
Governing bodies in Pulaski and Floyd counties and in Radford have passed a resolution authorizing the committee to apply to the Farmers Home Administration for a grant or loan for the project. The resolution also asked the committee to identify and evaluate a potential site, secure underwriters and prepare a financial plan. That plan went to the state treasurer's office Friday.
Boards of supervisors in Giles and Grayson counties will consider the resolution later this month. It does not bind any locality to join a regional jail authority but does meet obligations for securing the 50-percent state funding for construction.
State Senate Majority Leader and Finance Committee Chairman Hunter Andrews, D-Hampton, has said he thinks the study subcommittee should consider budget incentives for regional jails.
In a March 24 letter to Sen. John Chichester, R-Fredericksburg, Andrews said he was disturbed that Stafford County seems unwilling to join in a Rappahannock regional jail project and is considering a local project instead.
"Is the county unaware that in these tight budget times the commonwealth cannot afford to pay for a jail in every locality when regional solutions are readily available?" Andrews wrote.
Carroll and Wythe counties have withdrawn from participation in the New River Valley regional jail project. But it was state funding uncertainty that concerned the regional jail committee Friday.
New River Valley Planning District Commission Executive Director Dave Rundgren said the time frame during which the state will fund its half is uncertain.
Another uncertainty is how many state prisoners will continue to be held in local jails. The state gradually is reducing those numbers and increasing its own holding facilities, but Gov. George Allen's push to abolish parole could raise local jail populations again.
"We're at the mercy of the state," Assistant Pulaski County Administrator Peter Huber said. "I think that's a lot of why we can't give sure answers to our boards."
"There are a lot of things up in the air relative to this project, because we don't know what the legislature is going to do," said Assistant Radford City Manager Bob Lloyd. "Somehow or other, we've got to explain our position to the people who represent us."
That was why the committee considered meeting with legislators from the region, although Floyd County Administrator Randy Arno questioned whether even the legislators would know the answers at this stage.
If the state collects its prisoners, the total numbers in local jails would be reduced enough that a smaller regional jail could be built.
Pulaski County Sheriff Ralph Dobbins said the state on Friday was supposed to start taking back prisoners with sentences of three years or longer who were housed in local jails.
"We'll see what happens," he said.
by CNB