53.1-82 - Regional contracts for cooperative jailing of offenders; state reimbursement.
§ 53.1-82. Regional contracts for cooperative jailing of offenders; statereimbursement.
A. Three or more counties or cities, or any combination thereof, areauthorized to contract for services for the detention and confinement ofcategories of offenders in single or regional jail facilities operated by thecontracting jurisdictions. In addition, (i) any three or more counties,cities or towns, or any combination thereof, operating a jail facilitypursuant to an agreement for cooperative jailing established on or beforeJanuary 31, 1993, (ii) any existing regional jail facilities established byonly two cities, counties, or towns on or before June 30, 1982, and (iii) anyregional jail facilities established by only two contiguous counties whoseboundaries are not contiguous by land with the boundaries of any other countyin the Commonwealth, may participate under the provisions of this section.The Board shall promulgate regulations specifying the categories of offenderswhich may be served pursuant to the contracts provided for herein.
The governing bodies of localities participating in an agreement forcooperative jailing shall create a board to advise the locality in which thejail facility is located on matters affecting operation of the facility. Eachparticipating locality shall have at least one representative on the board.The sheriff and any member of the local governing body of each participatinglocality shall be eligible for appointment to the board; however, when aparticipating locality appoints more than one representative, the sheriffshall be appointed unless the sheriff is the administrator or superintendentof the jail facility operated pursuant to the agreement for cooperativejailing. A sheriff serving as such administrator or superintendent shall bean ex officio member of the board.
When such contracts are approved by the Board and, for the implementation ofthe contract, require the construction, enlargement or renovation of aregional jail facility or the enlargement or renovation of an existing jail,the Commonwealth shall reimburse each such locality its pro rata share, up toone-half, of the capital costs, as defined in § 53.1-82.2, of such jailproject in accordance with the provisions of this section and § 53.1-82.2.Any agreement for cooperative jailing entered into on or after July 1, 1991,which requires the construction, enlargement or renovation of a single orregional jail facility shall require such counties, cities and towns toparticipate in the costs of the facility for a minimum period of thirtyyears. The Board shall promulgate regulations, to include criteria which maybe used to assess need and establish priorities, to serve as guidelines inevaluating requests for such reimbursement and to ensure the fair andequitable distribution of state funds provided for such purpose. TheDepartment shall apply such regulations in preparing requests forappropriations. No such reimbursement shall be had unless the plans andspecifications, including the need for additional personnel, thereof havebeen submitted to the Governor, and the jail project has been approved byhim. The Governor shall base his approval in part on the expected operatingcost-efficiency of the interior design of the facility. Such reimbursementshall be paid subject to the provisions of § 53.1-82.2.
B. In the event that a county, city or town requests and receives financialassistance for capital costs of a jail project from the Department ofCriminal Justice Services or from other public fund sources outside of theprovisions of this section, the total financial assistance and reimbursementshall not exceed the total cost of the project.
In addition, no such reimbursement shall be had by localities entering into acontract pursuant to this section on or after February 1, 1993, unless atleast three of the participating localities were each operating a jail onFebruary 1, 1993.
(Code 1950, § 53-133.3; 1981, c. 380; 1982, c. 636; 1983, c. 358; 1989, c.423; 1991, c. 453; 1993, cc. 387, 787; 1995, c. 305.)