THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, May 16, 1995 TAG: 9505160003
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A14 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Medium: 54 lines
The editorial ``A solution is overdue'' (May 6) presented a slanted view of the jails situation and contained several inaccuracies.
The law which abolished parole and established truth-in-sentencing for crimes committed after Jan. 1, 1995, will not affect the local jail populations for some time. When Governor Allen took office on Jan. 15, 1994, local jails were overcrowded and the state had a high number of inmates housed in those jails.
The editorial inaccurately notes that ``the problem will worsen in July when more inmates now in jails become a state responsibility.'' In fact, the law changing the state-responsible inmate definition does not change until July 1, 1996, not July 1, 1995.
The administration takes the jail overcrowding problem seriously. One of the innovative measures this administration put in place to solve the overcrowding situation was to double bunk and double cell existing state correctional centers to create 2,167 additional beds. Governor Allen will divert people from jails as they await either trial or sentencing.
In 1989, Governor Baliles created the Commission on Prison and Jail Overcrowding. The first page of the report states, ``The system will be far short of the number of beds needed to house inmates in prisons and jails in the 1990s.'' Despite this early warning, adequate bed space was not built to house these offenders.
Unfortunately, some have decided to blame the overcrowding solely on the Parole Board. This overly simplistic argument holds no water. Before grant decisions made by the new Parole Board impacted the system, Virginia had a backlog of almost 1,700 felons in local jails. This administration has gotten that number down to one of the lowest levels since the law changed. The 1,500 beds created by the opening of the work centers next month will further reduce the number.
This administration is committed to finally resolving the problem of jail overcrowding. We all know facilities cannot be built overnight. Governor Allen went to the General Assembly, presented our 10-year construction plan, and left with a short-term five-year funded plan. We will have enough beds to house all state-responsible inmates by the end of 1997.
It is obvious that Virginia should have been building the prison beds needed to house the projected inmate population all along. We are committed to finally resolving the long-standing local jail and prison overcrowding issue and are making progress to that end.
JERRY W. KILGORE
Secretary of public safety
Richmond, May 8, 1995 by CNB