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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Monongalia County WV wants a new Regional Jail in the region, according to the State Journal.
Commissioners have written a letter to the regional jail authority, requesting that it put a new regional jail in the area. Inmates are currently taken to the North Central Regional Jail in Doddridge County.
Monongalia county commissioners believe the project would also benefit Harrison, Marion, Taylor, Preston Counties. Harrison and Marion Counties also take prisoners to the North Central Regional Jail, while Taylor and Preston Counties take inmates to the Tygart Valley Regional Jail in Randolph County. “Our travel time right now is an hour and 10 to 15 minutes one way. It would cut out travel time down to 30 to 35 minutes one way, so we were looking at travel time and expenses,” said Monongalia County Commissioner Bob Bell.
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The Grand Rapids Press has issued an editorial regarding the costs associated with prison transport in Michigan:
The Michigan Department of Corrections should implement the auditor general’s cost-saving recommendations for its prisoner transport system. That is especially true since four out of five of the points were recommended 12 years ago, well before the cost to taxpayers exceeded $23 million. Gov. Jennifer Granholm and lawmakers must see to it that the department follows through this time. The state can’t afford to pass up savings opportunities in this economy, and in particular, in this department, with its disproportionately large budget. Safe, effective and efficient transportation of prisoners is basic to successful correctional management … The cost of prisoner transportation was $23.6 million during fiscal year 2006-07. In 1996, the time of the previous audit, it was $14.2 million.
Auditors reported that one of the 42 correctional facilities did not report any transportation miles traveled during fiscal year 2006-07, but yet had transport officers assigned and recorded transportation costs of $429,000 that year. This is a good example of some of the poor record-keeping cited and the need to develop the tracking method recommended.
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