Kaine Halts Housing of Out-of-State Prisoners

Kaine was out of the state Wednesday and could not be reached. Barry Green, deputy secretary of public safety, told the House Appropriations Committee on Wednesday that the administration began hearing complaints from sheriffs in the past two weeks.

"A number of sheriffs are saying the jails are dangerous to operate," he said.

Del. M. Kirkland Cox (R-Colonial Heights) said he was "a little upset" to learn the administration is changing its plan after the General Assembly already had approved the state budget that relied on renting prison beds for extra revenue for the Corrections Department.

"That's the plan you went with," he said. "I don't get what's changed."

Virginia houses about 33,500 inmates at 43 facilities. Currently, 1,842 inmates in 75 local and regional jails are waiting to be moved to a state prison.

Sheriffs have complained for at least three decades about the large number of state inmates in local jails, which are supposed to house defendants awaiting trial and those sentenced for minor crimes. They argue that the more dangerous inmates further crowd their jails and that jails provide less access to rehabilitative and educational services.

State law requires that felons sentenced to at least one year behind bars get transferred from local jails to state prisons within 60 days.

Virginia pays sheriffs $14 a day to house state inmates (although the actual cost can be as high as $125) while collecting about $75 a day from other states to house their prisoners.

Del. Harvey B. Morgan (R-Gloucester) repeatedly asked prison officials why they would agree to take any out-of-state prisoners if state inmates need to be moved from local jails.

"What is the reason for that?" he said. "It doesn't make much sense to me."

Virginia began housing inmates from other states in 1998 after the state built and expanded a dozen prisons following the abolishment of parole and the enactment of longer sentences for some crimes.

But the inmate population did not grow as much as expected, and the state took in inmates from a half-dozen states and the District.