RSW Regional Jail Finance Committee ponders budget, and a film request

In additional to operational updates from the superintendent and finance officer, on February 28 the Rappahannock-Shenandoah-Warren Regional Jail Authority Finance Committee discussed the proposed budget to be submitted to the three involved county governments for Fiscal Year 2020 and a documentary film project of students at Shenandoah University.

One matter of contention in the upcoming budget was the respective operational contributions of the jail’s two largest contributors of inmates, Warren and Shenandoah Counties. Warren has generally provided the largest county inmate population by about 8% to 15% above Shenandoah’s numbers, with Rappahannock coming in a distant third.

A recent report on the average daily inmate population showed Warren with 171 inmates (51.5%), Shenandoah at 143 (43%) and Rappahannock at a meager 18 inmates or just 5.4% of the membership jurisdiction inmate population total of 332.

The jail also rents out empty bed space to non-member jurisdictions at an established per inmate housing cost to help generate revenue. The Average Daily Population (ADP) report showed three counties – Prince William (8), Page (67) and Culpeper (42) renting bed space for an additional 117 inmates at RSW.

Also among budget topics were the purchase of bulletproof vests for some staff and new computers to upgrade the jail’s digital and online service capacities.

One non-budgetary item of interest was a request for access to staff and the sectors of the inmate population for a documentary film project of Shenandoah University students. The board did not seem too keen on the idea, worrying it could set a precedent leading to more documentary film project applications that might interfere with jail operations and security.

See these and other discussions presenting an overview of the status of the Jail in this Royal Examiner video: