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Shown participating in the groundbreaking are (from left) Bill King of Thompson & Litton Architects; Allen Hamblen of English Construction; Harold Ellis of Public-Private Infrastructure; Jim McHone, mayor of the town of Stuart; Del. Ward Armstrong, D-Collinsville; Jonathan Large, Dan River District supervisor on the Patrick County Board of Supervisors; Sheriff Dan Smith; Capt. Darryl Smith of the sheriff’s office; Lock Boyce, Peters Creek District supervisor; Crystal Harris, Smith River District supervisor and board chairman; Ron Knight, Mayo River District supervisor; Commonwealth’s Attorney Stephanie Vipperman; Susan Gasperini, clerk of the Circuit Court; Tom Bishop, executive director of the Patrick County Chamber of Commerce; County Administrator Jay Scudder; and Terry Tilley, town manager of Stuart. (Bulletin photo by Paul Collins) |
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
By PAUL COLLINS - Bulletin Staff Writer
Patrick County Sheriff Dan Smith began his remarks at the groundbreaking for a new county jail on Monday by saying, “This has needed to happen for over 40 years.”
He said there have been liability issues with the current jail, which was built in the early 1900s. “(We’ve) been living on the edge” and are at “the end of our rope,” Smith said.
“This is a good day for Patrick County” and its residents, he said, adding that at least 14 state-paid jobs will be created when the facility opens.
“Sixteen months from now, I hope to be moving into this” the sheriff said.
The new jail, which will be built on Commerce Street adjacent to Eastern Microfilming/EMI Imaging (located in the former Bassett-Walker plant) and across from Clark Gas & Oil, is expected to take 16 to 18 months to build. The state will reimburse 25 percent of the estimated $9.9 million construction cost, and the county will make bond payments on the remaining $7.5 million, Smith has said. Plans are to make those payments through savings and revenue generated by housing inmates from other areas.
The new jail will hold up to 120 inmates, as opposed to the 25 to 30 who can be housed in the present facility. With the new jail, the county no longer will have to pay to house its inmates in other jails, which will save money.
“It’s my vow this jail will be as self-sufficient as possible,” Smith said.
After the jail is completed, Smith hopes to use inmates to pick up litter on roadsides. He also hopes to use inmates to help prepare food at the new jail and do other tasks as needed, he has said.
The new jail will help the county in a number of ways, said Circuit Court Clerk Susan Gasperini, a member of the jail committee. The federal government has been on the verge of closing the current jail for years, she said, and the new jail will eliminate that problem.
The U.S. Department of Justice had been investigating the county because of the jail conditions since 2000, Smith has said. If the county had not decided to build a new jail, a shut-down was imminent, the sheriff has said, adding that the current jail is the only one operating in the state with no on-site medical staff and no approved fire escape.
According to Gasperini, the new jail also will significantly reduce transportation costs associated with moving inmates to other jails to be housed and bringing them back for court appearances.
Also, Gasperini said, currently the Circuit Court clerk’s office is in the same building as the jail. “There have been many times inmates have stuffed things in the commodes,” and they overflow and cause flooding in the clerk’s office, she said. “Thank goodness we haven’t lost any records,” she said.
She said of the new jail: “It’s all positives. It’s been a long time in coming. I’m really thankful that the board of supervisors has decided to go forward with the jail.”
Del. Ward Armstrong and state Sen. Roscoe Reynolds, D-Ridgeway, “have been instrumental in helping us” in working with the Department of Corrections, Gasperini added.
The approximately 24,000-square-foot jail will be built on 12 acres and will face Commerce Street, Smith said Monday. It will have dorm-type housing for minimum-security inmates, and traditional cells for medium- and maximum-security inmates, he said.
Smith argued with the state Board of Corrections to allow the jail to have a higher number of minimum-security beds to reduce the cost of building the facility, and, based on data that showed the majority of inmates in the current jail are minimum security, the Board of Corrections approved the request, Smith said.
Patrick County Administrator Jay Scudder said that hopefully this jail will represent a new, cost-effective method of building jails in Virginia, involving both traditional and new concepts.
During Monday’s ceremony, local officials thanked the Virginia Department of Corrections for making waivers and working with the county on the new jail. Smith also thanked members of the jail committee and others.
About 25 people attended the groundbreaking, including the jail committee members, other county and town of Stuart officials, Del. Armstrong and representatives of the county chamber of commerce, Thompson & Litton Architects, English Construction and Public Private Infrastructure.
Jail committee members include the sheriff; Scudder; Gasperini; Commonwealth’s Attorney Stephanie Vipperman; Lock Boyce, Peters Creek District supervisor on the Patrick County Board of Supervisors; Jonathan Large, Dan River District supervisor; and Capt. Darryl Smith of the sheriff’s office. |
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