Counties across West Virginia are warming to community corrections, in part because it costs them between $5 to $15 per offender per day, compared to $49.25 for each day in a regional jail, legislators learned Tuesday.  Article from the Charleston Gazette.

“There are significant savings to sending people to community corrections as opposed to sending them to jail,” said Norb Federspiel, director of the Division of Criminal Justice Service. “My personal opinion is, the counties have been the chief beneficiaries” of community corrections, he told a legislative interim committee.

Since the Legislature passed the Community Corrections Act in 2001, 40 counties are participating in community corrections programs, primarily through day reporting centers, Federspiel said. At any given time, between 1,200 and 1,500 nonviolent offenders are in community corrections programs, saving counties about $50,000 a day in regional jail costs. “There’s no doubt that it has saved counties money to have people sentenced to day report centers instead of jails for misdemeanor offenses,” Federspiel told the interim committee on regional jails and corrections.

While West Virginia’s program is too new to provide solid data on outcomes, he said community corrections in other states have reported recidivism rates that are 40 percent lower than for incarcerated inmates. Offenders in West Virginia community corrections must complete community service assignments, undergo counseling and participate in assigned programs based on their needs. Programs include substance abuse treatment, job training, adult basic education, anger management and life skills courses. Federspiel said drug rehabilitation is a critical factor, since a significant percentage of all nonviolent offenders have been convicted either of drug offenses, or for property crimes committed in order to buy drugs. Not everyone sentenced to community corrections is up to the challenge, he told lawmakers. “There are some who’ve said, ‘This is too tough. Put me in prison,” he said.

One of the key recommendations this summer in the report of Governor’s Commission on Prison Overcrowding is to expand capacities of community corrections programs statewide. Currently, the state spends just more than $5 million a year on community corrections, with about $1.8 million coming from the state’s half of a $10 community corrections court fee imposed on all convictions other than parking tickets. In recent years, an additional $3.5 million a year has been appropriated from general revenue funds, he said. The funds are distributed to counties as grants, with counties required to put up 10 percent to 30 percent of the amount in matching funds.

Asked why 15 counties are not participating, Federspiel said most are small, rural counties that may not have significant crime problems. In some counties, he added, some circuit judges simply oppose the concept of community corrections. “Some judges philosophically don’t believe in community corrections. They believe offenders should go to jail,” he said.

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Appomattox County has agreed to participate in a Blue Ridge Regional jail in Amherst, along with Amherst, as well as inmates from the Blue Ridge Regional Jail in Campbell County. The agreement also includes the Cities of Lynchburg and Bedford, Bedford County and Halifax County.  Story from the Altavista Journal.

The Blue Ridge Regional Jail Authority (BRRJA) requested advance funding because it was notified that the Commonwealth of Virginia agreed to fund 50 percent of the eligible construction costs for the new jail.  Since the state is likely ending this plan, Ferguson said, Appomattox County was fortunate to meet the 50-percent reimbursement program. The state will only provide the 50-percent share after the construction is completed, which is why the Authority requested to borrow a share in long-term bonds from localities and short-term notes from the state. The BRRJA is pursuing the issuance of up to $63 million in short-term Grant Anticipation Notes and long-term revenue bonds to fund the jail construction, as well as improvements to the Halifax County facility.

The Appomattox County Board of Supervisors voted 5-0 to approve a resolution authorizing the BRRJA to proceed. In January 2007, the Board voted to proceed with the regional jail effort. The supervisors’ vote was based largely on an overcrowding issue currently facing the Appomattox jail. According to a study, Appomattox’s jail was built to house 12 inmates. In 2007, the jail typically housed in the mid-to-upper 30s, and that total is estimated to increase to 69 inmates in the next 15 years. According to the data, Appomattox could expand the current jail to 69 beds with a construction cost of $11.1 million – or $787,000 annually for debt service. In addition, the current jail would then face an annual operating cost of $549,000. The sum of the debt service and the operating cost adds up to $1.3 million annually. On the other hand, Appomattox could invest in the Amherst regional jail, which they did … The regional jail would cost Appomattox $499,000 annually in operating cost. And since Appomattox is already spending $222,000 subsidizing the current jail, the increase would only be $277,000 from what it is already paying.

Once completed, the new regional jail in Amherst is projected to house 42 percent Amherst inmates, 14 percent Appomattox inmates, and 44 percent BRRJA inmates.

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A trend has emerged within the past three years that sees fewer inmates sentenced to West Virginia’s regional jails for minor crimes — but that has made barely a dent in overcrowding.  Reported by the Register-Herald.

Since 2007, the number of misdemeanor sentencings has fallen by 1,935 inmates, Regional Jail Director Terry Miller told a legislative panel Monday.  In a 12-county southern region, only two counties bucked the trend. Monroe, for instance, has committed 34 such inmates this year, contrasted with 20 the previous year and five in 2007. Nicholas County witnessed an upswing from 201 in 2007 to 284 this year.

Overall, the downward trend is a positive sign at a time when prison overcrowding is a major concern, suggested Delegate Dave Perry, co-chairman of the Legislative Oversight Committee on Regional Jail and Correctional Facility Authority. “That’s positive,” Perry said, adding that the effect of day reporting centers and other community corrections efforts cannot be underestimated. Even with this trend, however, Perry said the Legislature faces a huge task in easing crowded prisons. “It’s not adequate to address the number of beds available,” he said. “If you look at the Division of Corrections numbers, there is still a large number of inmates that are housed in regional jails that should be in the DOC.”

As of the last headcount taken Thursday, the 10-facility jail system contained 3,962 inmates, or 1,178 above the maximum for which they were designed. Among that number were 1,299 inmates sentenced to state prisons, and 159 federal inmates, Miller’s report indicated. An extra 270 bunks have been added this year, leaving 699 in excess of total bunks. Southern Regional Jail in Beaver had 506 inmates, including 71 awaiting transfer to state prisons, and 27 federal inmates. “As outside programs have developed, such as day report and alternative sentencing, that has caused a downward trend,” Perry said. Sen. Bill Laird pointed out that day reporting centers are operating in all but four of the 55 counties.

Corrections Commissioner Jim Rubenstein cautioned the committee that his agency is functioning at capacity, unable to accept the state prisoners now in regional jails. If that trend holds sway, the backlog of state convicts in regional jails will swell to 3,500 by the end of 2012, he warned. Gov. Joe Manchin has commissioned a special task force to study prison overcrowding, and a fresh look at its findings its due today before Judiciary Subcommittee C. Miller pointed out that 4,742 arrests for first-time driving under the influence were taken to regional jails this year. “That’s something we can look at on sentencing structuring,” he said.

Miller’s agency also is facing 96 vacant positions, and emphasized that none is considered frozen. “You always have some empty positions,” he told the panel. Miller said the authority has begun to “aggressively” rev up its recruiting and retention program.

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The first Kansas City prisoners were transferred Friday to the new regional jail operated by Jackson County MO, as reported by the Kansas City Star.

Earlier Friday, Jackson County Executive Mike Sanders and city officials said the new Regional Correctional Center would improve public safety and save the city up to $1.6 million a year.  In coming days, the city will close its old jail, the Municipal Correctional Institution. Police, city and county officials have yet to strike a deal to use part of the new regional center for city detainees. But Chuck Eddy in the city manager’s office said a meeting should occur soon.

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Winnebago and Calumet counties in Wisconsin will have to explore new options for housing inmates after the Outagamie County Board refused to help fund a study to explore the feasibility of a regional jail. Report from the Northwestern.

While the regional jail study has been put on hold, Winnebago County Sheriff Michael Brooks said the counties still will need to figure out how to address growing jail populations at facilities that are nearing capacity. “We still have overcrowding issues and we’re going to need to address those problems,” Brooks said. “It’s just finding a way to do it that is the least expensive way, but meets the need.”

The population at the Winnebago County Jail was 333 inmates on May 19, slightly less than its capacity of 355, Brooks said. The Calumet County Jail is full and the Outagamie County Jail is nearing capacity. As a result, the three counties decided to explore the idea of a joint facility that would serve all three counties. The Outagamie County Board refused earlier this month to allocate money to help fund the study. Joining the $147,635 study, which the other two counties have authorized …

Winnebago County Executive Mark Harris said he was surprised that Outagamie County failed to approve the funds for the study. While the regional jail study has been put on hold, Harris said the counties working together may still be advantageous. “I still think there might be some mutual advantages in cooperation between Outagamie and Winnebago counties because of their close proximity,” Harris said. Officials from the three counties met last week to begin discussing other housing options, Brooks said. They will gather additional information and will discuss the issue again in the future. Brooks said he believes the “regional concept is not dead” and that counties may have to work together in other ways.

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The new regional jail to serve Amherst, Appomattox and a portion of Bedford counties in Virginia took what could be its final step toward construction last week. The Amherst County Planning Commission approved a site plan for the jail in Madison Heights. Construction on the 380-bed facility … is scheduled to begin by the end of the year.  Report from New Era Progress.com.

The Blue Ridge Regional Jail Authority will operate the single-story jail, which was made necessary by overcrowded facilities in all three jurisdictions. The current Amherst jail, for example, opened in 1994 with a capacity for 50 inmates. In recent years, it has routinely housed between 80 and 95 inmates.   However, the biggest advantage of becoming part of the regional jail system is that the state will pay for half of the estimated $50 million cost. The other half will be apportioned among the three localities …

The March escape of an inmate from the Blue Ridge Regional Jail in Lynchburg sharpened the focus on safety for Madison Heights residents. Regional jail officials met with residents to assure them that the new jail would have safeguards in place that would prevent a similar escape …

Construction is expected to be completed in 2011.

The full article gives more details and background.

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The Kansas City Council on Thursday approved a deal to send city inmates to a Jackson County detention facility downtown.  Report from KansasCity.com.

The ordinance authorizes city staff to proceed with a regional jail concept, committing $3.1 million annually to house 150 prisoners a day in the county facility. The city will also provide money for construction costs estimated at $2.1 million. The city hopes to save $1 million in annual city jail operations, and the aging Municipal Correctional Institution will close.

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A big break could be in the works for some West Virginia Counties when it comes to regional jail costs.  On Wednesday the Senate fast tracked a bill that would force the West Virginia Regional Jail Authority to pay back millions of dollars to counties.  Report from the State Journal.

The reason is because counties say the cost to house inmates is too high. In March the Regional Jail authority announced a surplus of more than $11 million.Cabell County Commissioner Scott Bias has been a supporter of the bill. He says the Regional Jail may have to pay as much as $17 million in jail costs back to the state Department of Corrections and many counties across West Virginia. The bill passed unanimously in the Senate. It now goes to the House for a vote.

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The Virginia Northwestern Regional Jail Authority will cut costs this year by keeping more than 100 beds — an entire housing pod — empty.  Report from the Winchester Star.

“It’s saving us money in man-hours and utilities … around a half-million dollars,” Northwestern Regional Adult Detention Center Superintendent Bruce Conover said Thursday after the authority adopted its $17,299,092 budget for fiscal year 2010. The budget, which takes effect July 1, is $1,573,984 lower than the current budget of $18,878,477.

The jail’s tighter budget is a ripple effect spreading from local governments’ efforts to cut spending.  The detention center is funded mainly by contributions from Winchester and Frederick, Clarke, and Fauquier counties.   For the next fiscal year, all of those localities are reducing their contributions … Along with closing the pod, the jail authority is cutting costs by eliminating 12 positions it expects will become vacant this year through attrition, and by cutting weekend meals for prisoners to just brunch and dinner …  The detention center is built to hold up to 824 prisoners. It has 533 now, and has housed an average of 510 to 530 inmates per day for several months.

Conover said Thursday that closing the pod will save the jail money that would have been used to feed, clothe, and guard inmates who would have been housed there.  However, while housing inmates in the now-vacant pod cost money, it also generated revenue … According to Conover, the pod last year housed around 100 federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement prisoners who have since been transferred to a larger facility, and around 40 prisoners from Prince William County who stayed at the detention center while the Manassas jail was expanded.  Conover said the detention center collected $717,000 in revenue from housing those prisoners.

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Cabell County WV Commissioner Scott Bias said the commission recently requested financial information from the Regional Jail Authority, and calculated that the system had $30 million more than it needed in its accounts for last fiscal year.  Report from the West Virginia Sunday Gazette.

“We have serious questions about their budget,” Bias said. “They’re building a huge surplus and charging the counties for it.”   Counties pay the jail authority a daily fee of $47.53 per inmate. In July, that will increase to $48.25.  Last week, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Walt Helmick, D-Pocahontas, appointed a subcommittee to look at the jail authority’s budget.  The authority needs to “have a healthy surplus,” Helmick said. But every cost must be scrutinized, especially in lean times, he added.

Joe Thornton, deputy secretary of the Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety, said jail officials welcome the legislative review of the budget.  But he denied that the jail authority has done anything improper with surpluses.   State law allows the authority to keep a minimum of three months of operational expenses, about $19 million, “in case counties like Cabell don’t pay their bills,” he said … The authority understands the fiscal challenges facing counties, and has made sacrifices to keep the per diem as low as possible, he said. “With the costs of everything around us going up, the per diem is still lower than it was two years ago” when it was $48.50, Thornton said.

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When the Western Virginia Regional Jail near Dixie Caverns opens Friday, local officials will be breathing a sigh of relief.   Not only will the regional facility relieve overcrowding in the Franklin County jail, it will mean less man hours spent by deputies transporting prisoners, said Franklin County Sheriff Ewell Hunt.   Report from the Franklin News-Post.

“During the months of December and January, we logged 15,340 miles transporting inmates to other facilities,” Hunt said. “This consumed 613 man-hours, or the equivalent of two people, full time, doing nothing but transports.”   Hunt said the largest population of prisoners are now held at the Middle River Regional Jail in Staunton, which is a 220-mile round trip, a journey that was made by county deputies 37 times in December and January.  “Our current situation is tenuous,” said Rick Huff, county administrator, “because, beyond our own facility, we are operating on a space-available basis with jails as far as two hours (drive) away. The regional jail was our most cost-effective alternative to assuring that we will have a place to hold the inmates we are legally responsible for.”

Franklin County decided to join Montgomery and Roanoke counties and the City of Salem to build the regional jail about four years ago. The joint effort was chosen because the state has a policy of reimbursing 50 percent of capital costs for regional facilities. That means the three counties and one city will share in paying about $46.8 million of the $93.6 million total cost of the facility.

Franklin County’s jail was built in 1937 and certified to hold 49 prisoners. The county is currently responsible for about 200 inmates in 12 different facilities around the state and has no guarantee that those facilities will have beds available if the county needs them … The county plans to keep its existing jail open to house about 60 pretrial and workforce prisoners.

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Several cities in South King County WA announced Thursday an agreement to build a new jail to hold people accused of or serving sentences for misdemeanor crimes, and they have already selected a vacant 14-acre lot in Des Moines as the new jail’s home.

The project has moved much more swiftly than a similar one being planned to serve Seattle and cities in north and east King County … Penny Bartley, interim director of the South King County cities group, said her organization has been able to make progress because it has been working together longer than the other cities. The group is the South Correctional Entity, or SCORE.   “The thing to keep in mind is that the SCORE cities have been working together for about two years,” Bartley said. “We have put a lot of time and a lot of resources into this.”

The cities involved include Auburn, Burien, Des Moines, Federal Way, Renton, SeaTac and Tukwila. Together, they plan to build a single-story 668-bed jail in Des Moines. Development and construction is estimated to cost $80.5 million. Construction is expected to start in September …

All cities in King County are looking for a place to house their misdemeanor inmates, people accused or convicted of crimes such as DUI, assault, domestic violence, property crimes or traffic offenses.   Historically, the King County Jail would hold these inmates. But the county alerted cities in 2000 that it would run out room for misdemeanor inmates by 2012. That has become the target date for cities to build a new jail. Bartley said that even now, King County cannot handle the inmate load.

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A plan to build a $100 million regional jail for Brunswick, Dinwiddie and Mecklenburg counties in Virginia would alleviate the need for inmate space in all three localities dealing with overcrowded and inadequate local jails, local officials said.

The regional jail, which has been in the planning stages for nearly four years and was originally estimated to cost $150.2 million, will help the counties save money and will make the jail system more efficient in all three jurisdictions.  The project had not been included in the governor’s 2009-10 budget proposal, but this month legislators in both houses approved amendments to include the project in their respective budget bills, making it more likely that it will move forward in the next few years. A state funding match, however, may not be available until 2013.

The Meherrin River Regional Jail Authority, formed in early 2008, initially wanted to build an 800-bed jail but has scaled back its plans to 408 beds.  The current plan consists of building a main facility in Brunswick County, near Alberta, that will accommodate the pretrial and sentenced prisoners from Brunswick and Dinwiddie as well as the sentenced prisoners from Mecklenburg. A smaller satellite jail near the government offices in Mecklenburg will accommodate the pretrial and work-release populations from Mecklenburg … The facilities would be built with a capacity for expansion, and one superintendent would oversee both locations. Once the replacement facilities are built, the local jails will be closed, officials said.

The article from the Richmond Times-Dispatch is long and detailed, covering the history and the financing of the project.

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Washington County MS officials have moved another step closer to construction of a regional correctional facility, approving the issuance of up to $19.5 million in bonds, according to WDAM-TV.

The new prison will be a 500-person facility that will house 300 state prisoners and 90 city inmates. The remainder will be county inmates.  The money earned from housing state and city inmates will go to pay off the bonds for the construction of the facility.

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Jackson County MO and Kansas City officials on Tuesday filled in important blanks about how they would operate a new regional jail, according to the Kansas City Star.

• The third and fourth floors of the county’s Community Justice Building at 1305 Locust St. would house inmates once housed at the Municipal Correctional Institution;
• The Kansas City Police Department is discussing whether to use the new facility for short-term detentions of prisoners now housed in police headquarters. The county wants $500,000 to upgrade its building;
• The city would pay $57 per inmate per day, a total of $3.1 million for 150 beds. In addition, the city would pay an “intake fee” of $3 per inmate;
• The city, if it allows the county to supervise needed improvements at the Community Justice Building, would provide $1.4 million in 2009 and up to $600,000 in 2010. An alternative would be for the city to design and contract the renovations.

Jackson County Executive Mike Sanders said other Jackson County cities may wish to join, but the priority was to get a deal with Kansas City, which would provide the largest number of inmates.   Legislator Dan Tarwater said, “In these economic times, this is the kind of thing that everyone needs to look at.”

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A December decision by the Orange County VA Board of Supervisors to transfer the county’s share of the Central Virginia Regional Jail to a jail authority will stand, despite one supervisor’s efforts to rescind that vote.  Report by Orange County News:

At a Dec. 15 meeting, the Orange County Board of Supervisors voted 3 to 2 to transfer the county’s one-fifth ownership of the jail, along with all power and rights, to a jail authority … By making the switch, and transferring operations and control to a jail authority, officials hope to increase the chance of obtaining exemption from a General Assembly-issued moratorium on jail construction. Additionally, funding for the $10 million expansion may be more easily secured-and repaid—by an authority than it would by each of the individual counties that participate in the CVRJ: Fluvanna, Greene, Louisa, Madison and Orange.

Since the jail opened about 20 years ago, there has been no cost to participating jurisdictions for operating the facility because costs were offset by money paid by the government for federal prisoners housed there. But beginning last year, the population of local prisoners has increased, leaving less room for inmates housed for federal offenses, and creating expense to the counties … Orange County’s cost in FY 2008-2009 was $300,000. Next year, depending on what amount is ultimately covered in the state budget, Orange will be obligated to pay between $800,000 and $1.1 million.

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Government leaders and community representatives from Union, Northumberland, Montour and Columbia counties in PA traveled to the Pike County Correctional Facility Thursday to tour a prison which boasts a 10 percent recidivism rate for county inmates.

According to prison officials, the national rate of recidivism, or inmates who are re-incarcerated after their release, hovers around 70 percent. The prison credits its strong numbers to a series of innovative programs, many of which are led by community volunteers.>

Union County Commissioner Preston Boop was instrumental in organizing the tour. He spoke on the importance of the trip.  “What we hope to accomplish is create a cooperative agreement across county lines where we would work with Montour, Snyder, Columbia counties,” he said. “Prison problems don’t stop at county lines. If we can get a three- or five-county effort going, that’s what our motive is …” The commissioner cautioned that building a common facility may not be part of any cooperative agreement the counties could reach in the future. “We don’t necessarily see this as a bricks and mortar issue,” Boop continued. “I’m looking for alternatives to building new prisons and hope we can come up with a plan or plans to solve our prison problems without bricks and mortar, without strapping taxpayers with the cost of building a new prison.”

Other members of the party had other ideas.

Northumberland County Commissioner Frank Sawicki holds a slightly different view of the issue. “It makes sense to build a regional prison,” he said. “It’s better for the taxpayer. It’s cheaper. It’s less costly.”  Sawicki noted he is willing to work with representatives of the other counties involved to hammer out an agreement to consolidate prison services.

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A new regional jail, scheduled to open in Roanoke County in March, could cost Franklin County more than $230,000 if Gov. Tim Kaine’s proposal to cut $11.3 million in state funding is not restored for the project.

The $11.3 million is additional funding that was approved by the Virginia Department of Corrections for the project above the initial bid for construction, according to Charlie Poff, superintendent of the regional jail. “We have met every standard regarding funding, and we will work to restore the funding,” Poff said … Regional jails are more cost effective for localities because of partnerships and a 50-percent state reimbursement, according to Assistant Franklin County Administrator Chris Whitlow. In addition to Franklin County, partners in the regional jail are the counties of Roanoke, Montgomery and the City of Salem.

State policy has been that 50 percent of the cost of regional jails would be paid with state funding, while the partnering jurisdictions would pay 50 percent, Whitlow said. Franklin County’s share of the jail project for fiscal year 2009-10 will be around $1,126,641 if the state funding is restored, Whitlow said. If the $11.3 million is not restored, Franklin County’s share will increase to about $1,358,641 …

Total cost of construction and equipment for the regional jail is $93 million. Franklin County’s share of the construction cost of the jail is 32 percent, which is based on the number of beds that have been allocated to the county. Franklin County will have use of 194 beds in the new jail facility with the possibility of increasing that number by double bunking, Whitlow said. The facility will have a 605 bed capacity, but that could be increased to 805 beds by double bunking. Construction on the regional jail began in April 2007 and is about 93 percent complete.

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The following is from KCAU-TV:

Topsy-turvey financial markets could mean less revenue from a bond sale to help pay for a new 184-bed regional jail at Pierre.  Toby Morris of Northland Securities said the expectation in August was that municipal bonds sold for the project would raise $200,000 at 3% interest. He told the Hughes County Commission that the return is now expected to be less, resulting in a shortfall of $30,000 to $50,000. Morris told the commission it might have to find ways to cut costs in the $9.6 million project. The jail is expected to open later this year.

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Two years after a contentious rezoning, land for a new jail in Amherst County VA remains undisturbed — although that will start to change this spring.

Heavy machinery will move onto the 125-acre site on Virginia 210 near U.S. 29 in April, with the actual building construction slated to begin in late summer to early fall.   The $50 million project will not be delayed in the state’s current funding crunch, said Chris Webb, the administrator for the Blue Ridge Regional Jail Authority. The project is currently funded without using state dollars, Webb said. That money will be paid back from the state at the end of the project — almost three years out, when officials hope that state revenues have improved …

The new jail will be built to house 325 to 400 inmates, replacing jails in Amherst County, Appomattox County and the Blue Ridge Regional Jail Authority facility in Moneta. Those three jails house about 220 inmates combined, which stay imprisoned for an average of 90 to 100 days … Amherst will account for about 42 percent of the beds in the new jail; Appomattox would take up about 14 percent of the beds, and the Blue Ridge Regional Jail Authority will take up 44 percent. Each of the agencies will contribute a portion of the costs based on usage …

The Blue Ridge Regional Jail Authority will run the new jail. It also operates jails in Lynchburg and Bedford as will as the counties of Bedford, Campbell and Halifax. The Amherst County Board of Supervisors rezoned the property for the jail in December 2006, amid protests from the property’s neighbors who expressed concerns over safety and property values.

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