Following the closure of the Hampton Roads Regional Jail, the city of Hampton has secured alternative housing for many of its inmates: the Western Tidewater Regional Jail.
The move is expected to save the city about $2.5 million from its previous arrangement and cut travel time for transport as some inmates were being held at facilities across the state.
The Hampton government had to find an alternate location for many of its inmates and settled on the Suffolk facility, which already washousing some Hampton inmates as the city’s downtown jail closed in May 2022 for maintenance and repairs.
Hampton will officially join the Western Tidewater Regional Jail Authority, following the approval of all the other localities involved in the authority — including Suffolk, Isle of Wight and Franklin. Deputy City Manager Brian DeProfio said the Western Tidewater Regional Jail Board has approved inviting Hampton to join and that the member jurisdictions of the jail must grant final approval of the resolutions adding Hampton to the authority as a permanent member. According to DeProfio, both Franklin and Isle of Wight have approved the resolutions.
It’s unclear how long the city jail will remain closed. The city previously said it planned to renovate the aging downtown building. But DeProfio said this week the city continues to explore what to do with the jail and it is unknown when renovations will be complete.
“The jail is over 50 years old and we are exploring the best approach to address the repair needs of the facility,” DeProfio said.
DeProfio said the intention is for the building to remain a city jail, but also said “as we go through the process, we may determine that that’s not the best option.”
The Hampton Correctional Facility in downtown Hampton “temporarily” closed in 2022 because the jail’s locking system was getting to the end of its lifespan and because the city had wanted to renovate the more than 60-year-old facility.
Hampton had previously housed a significant portion of its inmates at the Hampton Roads Regional Jail, located on Elmhurst Lane in Portsmouth. The jail opened in 1998 with a capacity of 1,300 and housed overflow inmates from Portsmouth, Chesapeake, Norfolk, Hampton and Newport News for decades.
The HRRJ officially closed on April 1, and the jail building and equipment were sold to the city of Portsmouth after the jail’s board determined the operation was no longer sustainable.
Hampton will pay a one-time fee of $5.7 million to join the Western Tidewater Regional Jail Authority. The city is covering the expense from the nearly $8.1 million it will receive from its share of the proceeds of the sale of HRRJ to Portsmouth.
Hampton spent $5.7 million in fiscal year 2023 to house a maximum of 175 inmates at the Hampton Roads Regional Jail. The new annual cost for housing 200 inmates at Western Tidewater is $3.1 million.
Bionca Moore, a lieutenant with the sheriff’s office, said at the start of the year the Hampton Sheriff’s Office had 37 inmates housed at the Hampton Roads Regional Jail. By February, all inmates had been rehoused.
Inmates were rehoused between Western Tidewater Regional Jail, Riverside Regional Jail, and Southside Regional Jail. As of this week, 118 inmates are housed at Western Tidewater Regional Jail, 74 at Riverside Regional Jail, and 9 at Southside Regional Jail. Moore said the Hampton Sheriff’s Office has an ongoing partnership with the Western Tidewater Regional Jail, allowing for the continuous transfer of inmates throughout the year as needed.
The city jail’s closure led to a spike in the number of inmates being held outside of the city, with some being sent to a jail in Lynchburg — nearly 3 1/2 hours away.
Moore said that the new arrangement with Western Tidewater is helping eliminate the problem of extensive transport times.
According to Moore, Moseley Architects is currently contracted to conduct a Jail Needs Assessment and Facility Planning Study.
Josh Janney, joshua.janney@virginiamedia.com
A correction was made on July 12, 2024. Due to incorrect information provided to The Virginian-Pilot and Daily Press, a previous version of this article said that Hampton had already been approved to join the Western Tidewater Regional Jail Authority. The Western Tidewater Regional Jail Board has approved inviting Hampton to join, but the member jurisdictions of the jail still need to grant final approval.
