Overcrowding burdens local jails', detention center's budgets

Overcrowding has complicated two local jails’ budgets as administrators have tried to find ways to control costs while keeping staff and inmates safe in their crowded facilities.

Virginia spent $798 million to run its jails during fiscal year 2008, according to a report by the Virginia Compensation Board. Pittsylvania County Jail, Danville Adult Detention Center and Danville City Jail had a combined budget of $9.8 million.

Lt. James Crews, of Pittsylvania County, and Director Frank Mardavich, of Danville Adult Detention, said budget concerns have always been a priority, especially as state and local funding are cut and the jails become more crowded.

“You have to be mindful of the budget, especially since we’ve been cut every year,” said Crews, the assistant jail administrator. “You have to make sure you get the best rates around. That’s one thing we do is shop.”

Crews said the county facility is built for 36 inmates but housed an average of 146 a day in 2008. The jail housed 150 inmates Friday, he said.

BY THE NUMBERS

Danville City Jail
• Cost for 2008: $4 million
• Cost per inmate per day: $54
• Three-year percent change in cost: 10 percent increase

Danville Adult Detention Center
• Cost for 2008: $2.6 million
• Cost per inmate per day: $47.19
• Three-year percent change in cost: 20 percent increase

Pittsylvania County Jail
• Cost for 2008: $3.2 million
• Cost per inmate per day: $59.09
• Three-year percent change in cost: 3 percent increase

Source: Virginia Compensation Board

Overcrowding has caused the jail to send inmates to other facilities, which adds to the cost of running the jail, Crews said. The other jails charge Pittsylvania County money for those inmates. Those costs are not reimbursed by the state, Crews said.

The county jail primarily uses Blue Ridge Correctional Facility to send inmates it doesn’t have room for.

Crews said more inmates also mean more staffing, food and medical care and most importantly — more costs, Crews said.

The state sets the staffing ratio according to the rated capacity of the facility, meaning the Pittsylvania County Jail’s staffing ratio is established by its rated capacity of 36, not by the 146 inmates it averaged per day in 2008.

But despite the tight quarters — Crews said some inmates sleep on the floor — the jail has little trouble with its cramped guests.

He said the jail has a very good staff and also started an inmate work force, which gets some prisoners supervised work outside the jail.

“As tight as they are cramped here, we have a good staff that knows how to handle folks,” Crews said. “We have very little trouble from our inmates.”

The Danville Adult Detention Center, which houses more inmates than its rated capacity, also uses inmate work forces, which help them burn off energy that could be spent in more destructive ways.

“All of our inmates are in group housing; they’re in dormitories,” said Frank Mardavich, the director of the detention center. “They are in very close contact with each other.”

Mardavich added that the work the inmates do helps keep them peaceful while they’re at the detention center and also benefits the city. Inmates pick up leaves, cut grass on city property during the summer, paint and renovate city buildings and cut brush back during the winters. They also do their own cooking and laundry.

Mardavich said that his facility also shops around to find the most reasonable prices. The staff also studies the Compensation Board’s report to find other jurisdictions that operate with less money than the detention center. Once they find them, Mardavich said they determine if there’s anything they can use from the other jails.

But the cost of city and county jails cannot be compared directly to detention centers and state-run prisons, Mardavich said.

“Just to say that we’re cheaper or more expensive than another facility without understanding all that goes into it is certainly comparing apples and oranges,” Mardavich said.

The third local lockup, Danville City Jail, ran under its rated capacity of 213 during 2008. Lt. Col. Ronald Ball, of the Danville Sheriff’s Office, said that the city jail has sent inmates to other facilities, which has allowed it to avoid overcrowding.

He said the city jail has contracts with Southampton County Jail Farm and Blue Ridge Correctional Center, which take city inmates when the jail nears its capacity.

Ball added that the inmates staying at the city jail pay $1 a day. The city uses that money to pay the costs of sending inmates out to other jurisdictions, Ball said.

The local jails strive to stay in the black, but the recent financial times have made that tougher as local and state funding is continually rolled back. But the strategies to keep a balanced budget remain the same.

“You have to steadily monitor your budget,” Crews said. “Then watch for changes in cost, then seek the best prices, the cheapest you can get.”