“The value of tonight is that we have a shared understanding of the issues that we may not have had before. We might have different solutions, but we understand the issues together.”
That was Lexington Council member John Driscoll’s summary of an interjurisdicitonal meeting held on July 28 in which Buena Vista City Council, Lexington City Council and the Rockbridge County Board of Supervisors discussed solutions to the issue of overcrowding at the Rockbridge Regional Jail.
Several potential solutions were discussed, though no clear path forward was determined.
The meeting opened with a brief presentation from outgoing jail Superintendent Derek Almarode which provided an overview of the situation. The jail, Almarode said, is currently rated and staffed for 56 beds, but is operating at 111 beds and has a maximum capacity of 140 beds. After 125 beds are filled, the jail admin- istration begins looking at contracting out some of the inmates to other jails to keep from over-crowding. On July 28, the jail was housing 136 inmates from all three jurisdictions – 104 from Rockbridge County, 30 from Buena Vista and two from Lexington.
Almarode also noted that the average daily population has been on the rise over the past several months. In January, the average population was 119 inmates. The number went down slightly in February and March, with respective averages of 117 and 116, but began climbing in April to 124. Since May, the average population has been above 130, with July’s average being 136.
Another issue with the current facility Almarode mentioned was the fact that the jail does not currently have dedicated program space or any dedicated medical or infirmary beds. It also has only one segregation cell, one holding cell and three intake beds.
In recent years, the jail – along with the courts and local law enforcement agencies – has been utilizing alternatives to incarceration whenever possible. Blue Ridge Court Services, which handles pre-trial services for defendants who are released on bond, is currently handling “approximately a hundred cases” that Almarode said would otherwise be incarcerated. He also noted the Maury River Recovery Court and Home Electronic Monitoring programs as ones that have helped provide some relief, though not all inmates that are taken into the jail are eligible for those programs.
They have also recently reactivated the RISPA (Regional Study on Inmate Population and Alternatives) committee which the jail had from 2018 through 2020 to explore alternatives to incarceration. Among the programs that are being explored under the new RISPA Committee are a therapeutic docket, which would allow for alternatives for individuals with mental health issues, and an intersectionality map to track how a variety of factors – such as gender, race, socioeconomic status and disabilities – play into incarceration and recidivism rates.
While these programs have helped, Almarode said, the issue of overcrowding is still prevalent and expansion of the jail in some capacity would be a big relief to the issue. He noted a study that was done in 2007 that predicted incarceration rates within the county several decades out and said that projections for where the jail would be today were “spot-on.”
“We’re working with everybody in the community to try to make a difference, but we’ve literally out-grown our shoes with our space,” he said.
Almarode also presented a proposal for a potential expansion on the Greenhouse Road site, which would include a two-story, 23,000-squarefoot expansion for the jail, which would add 136 beds in additional capacity for the jail. Based on the proposal, the expansion would be built onto the western end of the current building. West of that expansion, the proposal also has a 28,430-square-foot two-story building for the Rockbridge County Sheriff’s Office, which would allow them to move out of their current space in the southeast corner of the current building and open up additional space for 20-30 minimum- or medium-security beds. That expansion would be built on a parcel owned by Rockbridge County, which it currently rents to Randy Hostetter as a storage site for trucks and other equipment.
Supervisor Steve Hart also noted that the county’s school bus garage sits to the east of the current jail and suggested that the garage could be relocated to potentially open up additional space for either expanding facilities or providing additional parking.
While most of the elected officials in attendance were amenable to the idea of moving the sheriff’s office out of the current building to open up more space, some questioned whether building a separate building for the sheriff’s office on the current site was the best solution.
Part of the concern stemmed from the fact that Rockbridge County High School currently sits on Greenhouse Road, as does one of the county’s collection centers, both of which were built after the jail and have led to more traffic on the road than there was when the jail was constructed in 1986. The road is also the proposed site for the county recreation center that is in the development stages, which could lead to more traffic along the road.
“If it came up for a vote right now, I cannot honestly get behind it,” said Buena Vista Council member Stephanie Noel-Branch. “I honestly do not believe Greenhouse Road is the place for it to go. I personally do not have children that go to Rockbridge County [High School], but I’ll be doggone if I would want any of my kids going to Rockbridge County High School knowing there had been an increase in beds and this huge building is going to be down there. … We do need to do something, but I don’t think Greenhouse Road is the place for it.”
There was some discussion about possibly building a new sheriff’s office on another location, though no specific alternative locations were suggested. Sheriff Tony Mc-Faddin, who was also in attendance at the meeting, said that it would be his preference to stay on the site with the jail, but he was “open to suggestions.” Almarode agreed that having the sheriff’s office on the same site as the jail provided some assistance and made things easier for both to conduct their shared operations, but he also understood the concerns about the location.
“I really think you should look at alternate locations for one of us,” he said.
Whether it goes on Greenhouse Road or at another location, the decision of whether or not to build a new building for the sheriff’s office rests entirely with the Board of Supervisors as, under the current cost-sharing agreement, it is solely responsible for funding related to the sheriff’s office. The cost for any renovations or expansions to the jail would be divided among the three localities. Additionally, construction of a new facility or expansion for the jail would be eligible for a 25 percent reimbursement from the state.
Almarode predicted that any work on the jail wouldn’t begin for a minimum of five years, but could potentially take longer. With that timeline in mind, Lexington City Manager Tom Carroll, who serves on the Regional Jail Commission, encouraged the localities to make a decision regarding the jail sooner rather than later to ensure that work began as soon as possible.
THE PRELIMINARY proposal for the jail expansion includes a 23,000-square foot, two-story addition to the current jail building (center) and a more than 28,000-square foot, two-story building for the sheriff’s office (left). The expansion for the jail, as proposed, would offer an additional 136 beds, with another 20-30 beds being made available in the portion of the building currently occupied by the sheriff’s office.
