PORTSMOUTH, Va. — The Hampton Roads Regional Jail Authority Board voted unanimously to close the jail during a meeting on Wednesday afternoon.
As News 3 reported last week, employees of the jail were given a letter informing that the jail will close no later than April 1, 2024.
Chair of the Authority Board Bob Geis, who is also a deputy city manager in Chesapeake, told News 3 the local cities who use the jail have determined operations at the jail are no longer sustainable.
Sheriff's Offices from Norfolk, Portsmouth, Chesapeake, Hampton, and Newport News sent inmates to the jail, but the number of inmates being sent there has gone down in recent years.
In September, the jail had an average daily population of 212, down from 393 the year before, according to data listed in the board's agenda.
"We've suffered from staffing challenges and decreased inmate populations over the years and five jurisdictions have felt it's no longer in all of our best interests to sustain the operations," said Pete Buryk, the board's vice-chair.
Following the deaths of two inmates in 2015 and 2016, the Dept. of Justice foundunconstitutional conditions at the jail, which prompted them to offer more medical and mental health services.
As for what happens next, Portsmouth Vice Mayor Lisa Lucas-Burke, who is also a member of the board, said in an email to a News 3 reporter that the city would be negotiating to purchase the jail facility.
"I don't have details of the negotiating strategy, but hopefully it will greatly benefit the City of Portsmouth," she wrote.
Following the vote, Lucas-Burke doubled-down to reporters.
"We do want to be able to develop our downtown waterfront into something beautiful and this is the opportunity for us to capitalize on that option," Lucas-Burke said.
Buryk said the authority is reviewing all options while they start to wind down operations at the jail.
