Section 110. Required information

A Community-Based Corrections Plan shall include:

A. An analysis of criminal justice and offender population data as prescribed by these standards.

B. An analysis of existing resources, including existing facility(ies) and pretrial detention alternatives and post-disposition punishment alternatives.

C. An analysis of existing criminal justice resources including, but not limited to, the availability of law-enforcement, Commonwealth attorney and judicial officer services.

D. The need for and resources necessary to expand existing and establish new pretrial detention and post-disposition punishment alternatives, and for additional resources necessary to improve criminal justice caseload and jail population management.

E. A locality or region specific jail population forecast as prescribed in these Standards.

F. The proposed facility size based on future estimates and the need for management bed space in accordance with the requirements for design and construction set out in these standards.

G. The Community-Based Corrections Plan shall, at a minimum, include:

1. A statement identifying which Board of Corrections priority or priorities the Plan and jail project addresses. See 6VAC15-80-180.

2. A description of the existing jail or jails in the project including:

a. The date of construction and/or dates of subsequent renovations or expansions;

b. The current operating capacity as established by the Department of Corrections;

c. The total number of housing units including cell blocks, dormitories and other housing units used for general population offenders;

d. The operational capacity and the total number of beds for each of the housing areas described in "c" above;

e. The square footage available per offender in each cell, dormitory and dayroom;

f. The total number, type and capacity of special purpose areas;

g. A description of any administrative, operating and inmate program space;

h. A statement of the number of stories and aggregate floor space in the facility;

i. A statement about the general condition of the facility;

j. A description of the impact of any of the limitations of the physical plant relative to administrative operations and security;

k. If applicable, the status of the action plan to correct physical plant deficiencies identified in the last facility certification audit report.

3. A description of jail-based inmate programs and services including the number of offenders served annually in each program, the frequency of service, adequacy of space and the identification of funding and staffing resources for each.

4. A description of any currently operating pretrial detention and post-disposition punishment alternatives to include:

a. A description of each program including management and administration, staffing, and annual budget;

b. The total annual referrals during the past year for misdemeanant and local and state responsible felon offenders;

c. The average daily caseload under supervision during the past year for each category of offender listed in "b" above.

5. A table and an analysis of annual trends in the following data sources for each locality participating in the plan in order to evaluate the impact of the various criminal justice components on offender population:

a. For the past five years:

(1) Part I and Part II arrests.

(2) Circuit court felony and misdemeanor criminal cases commenced, closed, and pending, and trends in the number of felony and misdemeanor cases in each of the categories for "age of concluded cases."

(3) Local facility average daily population calculated from prisoner days for felony, misdemeanor and ordinance violator offense categories.

(a) If there is or has been an "overflow" population being held in another jail or jails, this average daily population shall also be reported.

(b) If federal prisoners are held, the average daily population must be reported separately.

(c) Localities currently without facilities can calculate the average daily population from prisoner days reported for prisoners held for their locality by another jail or jails. An estimate of prisoner days can also be generated by dividing the total annual costs paid for prisoner housing by the agreed-upon per diem rate. Once this number is developed, it can be divided by the number of days in that year for the average daily population.

b. For the past three years:

(1) The average annual population for each of the detention categories reported on the "Population Survey of Local Correctional Facilities" (Tuesday report) including a calculation of the percent of the total accounted for by each of the detention categories, juveniles as well as adults.

(2) The average daily caseload under supervision for each of the currently operating pretrial detention and post-disposition punishment alternative programs calculated from total supervision days.

(3) The relationship between total annual arrests and total annual new commitments awaiting trial.

(4) A separate comparison of the number of felony and misdemeanor criminal defendants in the circuit court or courts to the combined average daily awaiting trial population.

6. An analysis of future jail bedspace shall include:

a. A forecast of the future total average daily population for a minimum of ten years, excluding federal prisoners, which at a minimum includes:

(1) A description of the data used in producing the forecast such as the time frames and unit of analysis (weekly, monthly, yearly);

(2) The results of preliminary population data analysis such as trends and correlation structure;

(3) A discussion of the methodology selected and why it is appropriate, the type of model selected and the model selection criteria;

(4) The specification, parameters and diagnostic information from the model.

b. The short-term and long-term impact of state responsible prisoners held in local jails according to § 53.1-20 of the Code of Virginia.

7. An analysis of the program strategies for reducing the jail population forecast. The analysis shall be based on a plan for the expansion of existing and the establishment of new programs designed to divert misdemeanant and felon defendants and offenders detained in jail awaiting trial or actively serving sentences. The plan shall include a description of the proposed services, staff and other resources necessary to implement expanded or new programs.

a. New pretrial detention alternative programs shall be jail-based or operated by a local public criminal justice organization. Programs providing pretrial detention alternatives include:

(1) A public inebriate center for the diversion of public inebriates from the criminal justice system;

(2) Pretrial release for defendants at the initial appearance in general district court;

(3) Home/electronic incarceration or monitoring;

(4) Programs which divert defendants from jail and from prosecution or conviction who have been charged with offenses for which they can receive a sentence to jail;

(5) A program which reduces the awaiting trial length of stay through court approved credit for voluntary work on public property by any adult confined in jail awaiting disposition for a non-violent misdemeanor or felony offense.

b. Localities may seek assistance concerning the development of the programs listed in "a" above from the Department of Criminal Justice Services.

c. New post-dispositional alternatives shall be jail-based or operated by local public/private criminal justice organizations. Programs providing post-disposition punishment alternatives include:

(1) Community diversion incentive program or services for misdemeanant and felon offenders actively serving sentences in jail;

(2) Community service programs for offenders serving sentences in jail or in lieu of a sentence to jail;

(3) Home/electronic incarceration program for offenders actively serving sentence in jail. Sentenced offenders can be diverted in lieu of further incarceration, as preparation for parole, or subsequent to work release participation;

(4) A program which reduces the post-disposition length of stay through court-approved credit for voluntary work on public property by any adult confined in jail serving a sentence for a non-violent misdemeanor or felony offense.

d. Localities may seek assistance concerning the development of the programs listed in "c" above from the Department of Corrections, Division of Community Corrections.

8. A description of the effect of current magistrate; court; public defender; and prosecutorial case management practices, policies and procedures on the length of stay in jail.

Included shall be a plan to improve criminal justice services, to include the staff and other resources necessary to effect a reduction in pre-dispositional and post-dispositional length of stay in jail.

9. The recommended size of the proposed facility including the total number of cells, dormitories or housing units necessary for general population, community custody, special purpose, and short term population management. This is the number to be used as the "relative size" of the proposed facility as required by 6VAC15-80-150 of the planning study.

H. The Community-Based Corrections Plan shall also include conclusions and recommendations for implementation of the Community-Based Corrections Plan and the jail project.

Historical Notes

Derived from VR230-30-005.1 § 2.5, eff. July 1, 1994.

Statutory Authority

§§ 53.1-5 and 53.1-80 through 53.1-82 of the Code of Virginia.