ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, February 3, 1996 TAG: 9602050016
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-4 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: WYTHEVILLE
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER STAFF WRITER
Wythe County apparently will turn down an invitation to join the New River Valley Regional Jail project, according to its sheriff.
The regional jail authority were interested in their own regional jail project. The New River jail authority is planning a 240-bed jail in the Dublin area to serve Pulaski, Giles and Grayson counties and the city of Radford.
Wythe was among the localities funding the jail study that led to the New River Valley project but dropped out when the time came to implement the study plans.
"There's really not any financial advantage for Wythe County to be involved," Wythe County Sheriff Wayne Pike said. "There's lots of reasons why not to be involved way up in the New River Valley."
Pike and Wythe supervisors Mark Munsey and Clay Lawrence are on a jail committee studying what to do about the county's increasingly inadequate jail. At one time, it appeared a private company might build a prison in Wythe and add space for a local jail, but that company did not get a state contract for a prison.
"The board members simply asked that I contact the adjoining counties, just to see what interest they may have," Pike said. "I don't really believe there's a big advantage in being involved in a regional jail, period."
He said his idea would be to build a new jail somewhat larger than needed so it could rent space to federal prisons and other facilities to take their prisoners. That way, he said, "it'll produce some revenue for the county in the future so it can pay for itself, plus bring in revenue for the county later on. So I think, monetarily, we would be just as well off building a small unit here for ourselves."
He said the county also needs improved court space, and this might be the time to build all those facilities together. He said the jail and the courthouse are the county's only two public buildings still used for their original purposes.
Pike said the county would have to be selective about what kinds of outside prisoners it would accept to avoid getting troublemakers and medical-problem prisoners from other places. It also could rent space for Bland County prisoners.
"We used to hold all of Bland's prisoners until we just got too overcrowded, and I think that might be a feasible idea. We're not talking about a lot of people," he said.
The jail, built in 1926, will have to be replaced eventually, he said, although no timetable has been established. He said it lacks storage space for supplies - "I mean, we store stuff in the bathroom, for instance" - and it needs a new roof. Its location also presents problems because it is near the town's recreation park and an elementary school, he said.
Furthermore, there is a problem finding separate space for female prisoners, of which there have been five or six lately. "It's a serious problem when we have females in there, for lots of reasons," he said.
The mechanics of the facility are up to date, Pike said. "We have computers, photo-imaging, and we do a lot of stuff to save money, but we do not have a structure," he said. "We've tried to replace some of the wiring and plumbing, which is very expensive when you go to dealing with that building.
Nothing has been decided about financing a new jail at this stage. "We're just talking about how, and what, steps we want to take," Pike said. "The quicker we can get started, the better."
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