Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, August 18, 1994 TAG: 9408180102
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
John Jones, executive director of the Virginia Sheriffs Association, said prisoners were transferred from local jails to state prisons at a rate of 116 per week through the first half of the year. In the last six weeks, the average has plummeted to 46 per week.
``That means 70 inmates per week are backed up in local jails as a result of recent parole practices,'' Jones said.
Since Gov. George Allen's new Parole Board began work last spring, the percentage of parole-eligible inmates winning early release has dipped from 40 percent to less than 6 percent.
``The bottom line is that if you don't have people going out on parole, you don't have beds'' to accommodate state inmates awaiting transfer from local jails, Richmond Sheriff Michelle B. Mitchell told a subcommittee of a legislative parole reform commission.
Parole Board Chairman John Metzger told a state jail and prison forecasting committee earlier Wednesday that he expects the parole grant rate to average about 15 percent the rest of the year. He said the rate was low in August because the board considered an unusually high number of violent offenders' cases.
Jones said later that he was not aware of Metzger's new forecast. ``If the parole rate increases at all, it will help,'' he said.
But for now, sheriffs are worried about the impact of an increasing number of state inmates on their already overcrowded jails.
``We haven't had a major disturbance yet that I'm aware of,'' Jones said. ``But when you crowd people in, you can expect a higher potential for disturbances.''
Mitchell said fights are commonplace at the Richmond jail, where dormitories designed for 40 people house as many as 150. ``We feed all day, and we stop fights all day,'' she said.
Newport News Sheriff Clay B. Hester described a similar situation at his jail. Fourteen to 21 prisoners occupy cell blocks designed for seven, and ``every day we're having inmate assaults,'' he said.
Perhaps no jail is more adversely affected than Norfolk's, though. The jail is under U.S. Justice Department orders to reduce its inmate population from 1,399 to 750.
``I don't know how I'm going to do that,'' Sheriff R.J. McCabe said.
The Norfolk jail was designed for 579 inmates. State inmates alone are taking up 442 beds.
Statewide, jails with a total capacity of 9,700 were housing 15,986 inmates as of Aug. 2, Jones said. More than 4,700 of those were state inmates awaiting transfer to prison.
The sheriffs said the conditions are creating a morale problem among deputies, many of whom quit as soon as they complete training and go to work in less stressful jobs in local police departments.
The problems are not limited to sheriffs who run their own jails, Charles City County Sheriff James H. Bowman said. Bowman, president of the Virginia Sheriffs Association, said he doesn't have a jail and has to find space for his inmates in other localities' lockups. He said that's not easy when jails statewide are overcrowded.
The increase in the number of state inmates in local jails apparently has put the Department of Corrections out of compliance with a state law. The law limits state inmates' stays in local jails to 60 days.
Dick Hickman, a House Appropriations Committee staff member, told the commission about 1,900 state inmates in local jails have been there more than two months.
The legislative commission on parole reform is separate from Allen's commission on abolishing parole. The General Assembly will consider parole and sentencing reform in a special session Sept. 19.
by CNB