Central Virginia Regional Jail could be expanding

The Central Virginia Regional Jail is expanding, or hopes to.

The jail, built in 1990, is located on Route 15 in Orange and serves the counties of Fluvanna, Louisa, Orange, Madison and Greene. Currently, the jail serves approximately 400 inmates, but needs space for more.

This would be the third expansion for the 21-year-old jail. It would add 200 beds, expand the booking and receiving area and increase the size of the kitchen, which CVRJ Jail Superintendent Glenn Aylor said feeds 350-400 inmates with a kitchen built for 96.

According to Aylor, the expansion was approved by the jail authority in 2009. Early estimates put the construction price tag at $10 million. However, in 2010 when the paperwork was implemented by the state, the price tag came back at $17 million, which was approved in July by the state board of corrections. Now, Aylor is meeting with each locality involved to update them on the project and its new cost. He’s making the rounds pitching his expansion proposal to county supervisors in Orange, Greene, Madison, Louisa and Fluvanna.

"We’re being good stewards," Aylor said. "We’re saying this is what was done then and now."

Aylor said he’s seeking a resolution from each county stating they are aware of the $17 million price tag. He said the project will be paid for using a 50 percent reimbursement from the state and $6 million that has been set aside in a capital improvements fund. The remaining $2.5 million will come from the localities. Orange County’s projected cost is $708,600, which includes a 3.25 percent interest rate. What each locality will need to pay is based on an allocation formula which takes into account a three-year span of the locality’s jail population. The same formula is used to determine what a locality pays against operations.

Though the jail has expanded twice already, Aylor said this is the first time localities are being asked to contribute. He said when the then 96-bed facility was built in 1990, Orange County paid $651,000. He said to add 200 beds 21 years later, Orange County will pay not much more than they did originally.

Aylor said during 18 of the past 21 years, localities were not asked to spend anything on the jail. He said only in the last three years, have they been asked to contribute.

He said broken down, the cost to Orange is $3,543 per bed.

Aylor acknowledges that some people may say it’s cheaper to send prisoners somewhere else than expand the jail. He said that’s not necessarily true. On the lower end of the price scale, it would be approximately $50 per day to send an inmate elsewhere, not including transportation or medical services. He said to send five prisoners away for a day would be $250. For a year, it would be $91,250.

"It’s cheaper to build and operate your own facility," he said.

Aylor made a presentation on the jail expansion to the Orange County Board of Supervisors at its Sept. 27 meeting. He had already made similar presentations in Greene and Madison.