December Shenandoah County arrest leads RSW Jail to explore detention of juveniles charged as adults

Rappahannock-Shenandoah-Warren Regional Jail Superintendent Russ Gilkison has been authorized to explore what is necessary to certify the jail to house juveniles criminally charged as adults.

The matter came to the attention of the RSW Regional Jail Authority Board at its meeting of January 24 in the wake of the December arrest of a juvenile in Shenandoah County who had already been charged as an adult in previous cases. Gilkison explained that once a juvenile is adjudicated as an adult they continue to be considered an adult on any subsequent charges that occur before they turn 18.

That was the case with the Shenandoah County youth who was held for approximately five hours after his December arrest on a variety of motor vehicle charges including felony eluding before being released on an unsecured bond due to the lack of a place in the area where he could be legally incarcerated. The closest jails certified to house juveniles deemed adults legally were cited as Prince William County and Staunton.

That release of a person whose November motor vehicle charges in Shenandoah County, which included driving on a suspended license, driving an unlicensed vehicle, speeding and reckless driving in addition to the felony eluding charge, after being charged as an adult in 2017 with more serious crimes got the RSW Authority’s attention. The juvenile was indicted in 2017 on charges of abduction, felony conspiracy to detain, malicious wounding, and conspiracy to feloniously wound.

See RSW Jail Authority discussion of the legal dynamics of expanding its range of inmate housing to include such juveniles in these Royal Examiner videos. Also included is a discussion of Support Letter for Virginia Senate Bill 1040. Summary of Bill:

Compensation of local jails for cost of incarceration. Provides for local jails to be compensated for the actual cost of incarcerating convicted felons at the rate calculated in the Compensation Board’s annual jail cost report. Current law provides for jails to be compensated for the cost of incarceration of convicted felons as provided for in the general appropriation act. The provisions of the bill are contingent on funding in a general appropriations act.