THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, May 12, 1995 TAG: 9505120456
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ANGELITA PLEMMER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH LENGTH: Medium: 79 lines
For the second time this month, a judge has ruled that Virginia must stop illegal overcrowding of state inmates in local jails.
Retired York County Circuit Judge G. Duane Holloway, following a similar ruling last week in Virginia Beach, ordered Thursday that the state remove all its inmates from the Portsmouth jail within 60 days.
The order stems from a suit filed by Portsmouth Sheriff Gary W. Waters in January, alleging that the Department of Corrections was housing its inmates in the Portsmouth jail illegally.
``They can't be left in the jail and be gotten to when it's convenient,'' Holloway said, unless the governor declares a threat to public safety.
By law, the state must take custody within 60 days of all felons who receive sentences of three years or more.
Virginia has been ignoring the 60-day law for years. Recently, however, state prisons and local jails have become more crowded as Gov. George F. Allen's appointees have paroled fewer prisoners, forcing inmates to remain longer behind bars.
The order follows a Virginia Beach ruling on May 2 in which retired Portsmouth Circuit Judge L. Cleaves Manning ordered the Department of Corrections to move state inmates from the Virginia Beach jail within 60 days.
The suit in that case, filed by Virginia Beach Sheriff Frank Drew, was the first filed by seven sheriffs throughout Virginia who complain that their jails' capacities are being grossly exceeded.
Sheriffs in Hampton, Newport News, Richmond, Arlington County and Alexandria have filed similar suits. A trial for the Hampton suit is scheduled for May 22.
John Jones, head of the Virginia Sheriff's Association, said the Portsmouth and Virginia Beach rulings could have unintended consequences for other localities struggling with their own overcrowded jails. Jones said the state could simply comply with the court orders in these two cities and ignore crowding in other jails.
``So in order to get results,'' Jones said, ``suing the state is the only valid option for a sheriff to get inmates moved.''
About 16,000 state inmates are now housed in local jails statewide that have about 9,700 beds, Jones estimated. The problem is likely to get worse in July 1996, when Virginia law will define a state inmate as any felon sentenced to two years or more, instead of three years.
A Feb. 8 survey of local and regional jails statewide by The Virginian-Pilot and The Ledger-Star revealed that the average jail was 85 percent over its rated capacity. Hampton Roads' jails were among the most overcrowded.
Portsmouth's Waters said he now has 86 inmates that should be housed in a state prison.
``They're not even paying us what it costs to hold them,'' Waters said after Thursday's hearing. The state pays Waters $14 a day to house each state inmate, but it costs about $44 to $46 a day to keep them.
But Bill Cimino, a spokesman for state Secretary of Public Safety Jerry Kilgore, said the $14 figure is misleading because the state provides financial and staff support to help operate jails.
``We do help local sheriffs out a great deal,'' Cimino said, by providing salaries for deputies, medical staff, offices and other programs. ``It's sort of like the sheriffs are saying it won't be overcrowded if the price is right.''
Assistant Attorney General Lance Leggitt implied that the state will appeal the rulings. ``This is an issue that would ultimately be decided by the Supreme Court,'' he argued during the hearing. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Portsmouth Sheriff Gary W. Waters filed suit in January, claiming
that the state was housing its inmates in his jail illegally.
Virginia Beach, also with a crowded jail won a similar case on May
2.
KEYWORDS: PORTSMOUTH CITY JAIL by CNB