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Update on Harrisonburg/Rockingham Jail Expansion Needs
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Presented By: Anne Lewis, Assistant City Manager.
Recommendation and Review:
As Council is aware, the City and County have been working with the Middle River Jail Authority on a possible "buy-in" to the Middle River facility given that our jail has reached capacity. We have been unable to reach agreement on a "buy in" amount and as such for the near term, we will continue to rent space at that facility as needed.
Over the longer term, we need to proceed with developing our own plans to address the growing jail population, which will likely continue to grow as the city and county general populations continue to grow. The first step in that process is to prepare what is called a "Community Based Corrections Plan (CBCP)". The plan, which is required by the State if we wish to seek state funding support for a new or expanded facility. The County will be issuing an RFP for services to develop the CBCP as fiscal agent for the Sheriff/Jail. The City will be responsible for half of the cost of the Plan.
The CBCP should cost in the neighborhood of forty thousand dollars, and will consider building solutions as well as discussion of options to reduce incarceration (research to see what success other localities have had with alternatives, estimate number of potential program participants, what resources are needed, what type of physical plant or equipment is needed and input from judges as to whether or not they would use alternative programs.
The second step in this process will be a site assessment/planning study for one or several potential locations for a new facility. The cost for this step could be in the range of $60,000 - 120,000, depending upon how many sites are selected for study. This amount would be equally shared by the City and County as well