THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, March 30, 1995 TAG: 9503300367
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LAURA LAFAY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Short : 49 lines
A posse of high-ranking officials from Gov. George F. Allen's administration staged press conferences in two cities Wednesday to urge the General Assembly to approve money for prisons.
The legislators rejected in January the governor's proposal for a $408.6 million bond package to build seven prisons. In its place, they passed a $106 million compromise, allocating only site selection and planning money for five of the prisons on Allen's list.
The legislators are scheduled to return to Richmond on Wednesday to vote on Allen's amendments to bills they passed during the session.
At that time, Attorney General James Gilmore said during Wednesday's press conferences, Allen will ask them to restore $52 million in funding for a maximum-security prison planned on Red Onion Mountain in Wise County, and $20 million for a high-security juvenile prison at an unannounced location.
``It's important that we not do half the job,'' Gilmore said at the Capitol.
``To me, there's nothing more disdainful than playing politics with public safety,'' he said.
Secretary of Public Safety Jerry Kilgore, former U.S. Attorney Richard Cullen and three commonwealth's attorneys looked on.
Two and a half-hours later, Gilmore, Kilgore and Cullen were in Norfolk, flanked by Sheriff Robert McCabe, Norfolk Commonwealth's Attorney Charles Griffith, Virginia Beach Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Albert Alberi and Sen. Ken Stolle (R-Virginia Beach).
They denounced the General Assembly for abolishing parole last October and then failing to provide the money to pay for more prisons.
Failing to fund the prisons, they said, will imperil the lives of Virginians by causing so much prison overcrowding that the state would be forced to release ``violent criminals.''
``If we don't do this,'' said Stolle, ``the General Assembly of Virginia is going to have to turn around and make our sentencing scheme less effective. Or the federal government is going to come in here and force us to release one criminal for every one that goes in. No matter what we do, we're going to have to release violent criminals back into the community.'' by CNB