Virginia to Close Four Prisons, Reassume Control of Sole Private Prison

The Virginia Department of Corrections will close four prisons and take control of the state’s only privately operated prison this summer, officials said Friday.

Augusta Correctional Center, Sussex II State Prison, Haynesville Correctional Unit #17, and Stafford Community Corrections Alternative Program will close on July 1, 2024. The department said the closures are intended “to enhance employee, inmate, and probationer safety, to address longstanding staffing challenges, and in consideration of significant ongoing maintenance costs.”

Virginia considers private prison contract renewal despite $4.3 million in breaches

The announcement from the department did not note how many inmates will be affected by the closures or where they will be transferred. The agency said it has begun identifying job placement opportunities for employees at the affected facilities “to ensure that all employees who wish to remain employed with the VADOC will be able to stay with the agency.”

Virginia will also end its contract with Florida-based GEO Group to operate the Lawrenceville Correctional Center in Brunswick County on Aug. 1, 2024. The medium-security prison has been operated privately since 1998 and under GEO management since 2003.

Prison reform advocates have pushed for control of Lawrenceville to be turned back over to the state for many years, arguing that private companies’ need to produce profits leads them to cut corners in staffing and other resources that endanger inmate safety. In 2021, Sen. Adam Ebbin, D-Alexandria, proposed legislation that would have prohibited the state government from contracting with private prison operators, but it was defeated in committee.

Reporting by the Mercury found that persistent staffing shortages at the facility have led the Virginia Department of Corrections to repeatedly dock its payments to GEO for the operation of Lawrenceville due to the company’s failure to meet minimum staffing levels required by contract. Between August 2018 and October 2022, those deductions totaled $4.3 million. Roughly three-quarters of the costs were linked to shortages between October 2021 and October 2022.

A 2020 study by the Virginia Department of Corrections found that Lawrenceville’s operating costs would increase by $9.3 million if the state assumed control, largely to pay for “an increase of 93 correctional officers needed to provide adequate relief staffing and to address operational security needs.”

On Friday, the agency said it has been informed that Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s budget proposal, which he will present to the House and Senate money committees this Wednesday, includes additional funding for the state to take over Lawrenceville safely next year. The General Assembly will also come up with its own proposal for the two-year budget during the next legislative session that begins in January.

Virginia Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security Terry Cole said Youngkin’s budget “enhances public safety and increases efficiency inside Virginia’s prisons for staff members, inmates and everyone who lives and works in Virginia.”

“I believe these steps will help the VADOC further its mission of public safety and operational excellence,” he said.

A GEO Group spokesman said the company “look[s] forward to working with the Virginia Department of Corrections to ensure a seamless transition.”

“GEO has been a long-standing partner to the Commonwealth of Virginia, and we are proud of our record of managing the Lawrenceville Correctional Center on behalf of the Virginia Department of Corrections for more than two decades,” the spokesman wrote. “We are grateful for our front-line employees who have provided high-quality services, including enhanced rehabilitation programs, to those in our care.

This breaking story will be updated as more information becomes available.

by Sarah Vogelsong, Virginia Mercury

Virginia Mercury is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Virginia Mercury maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Sarah Vogelsong for questions: info@virginiamercury.com. Follow Virginia Mercury on Facebook and Twitter.