Local vs. state jurisdiction decision delayed in Shenandoah County
June 24, 2009 — Part 2 in a series
Update on Regional Jail issue for Shenandoah, Warren, and Rappahannock counties
Woodstock – The Board of Supervisors in Warren and Rappahannock counties have already approved moving forward on the construction of a new regional jail in Front Royal near the Virginia Inland Port. However, Shenandoah County officials – the last of the three county partners – are investigating the issue in depth before they make the decision to relinquish local control of their inmates to a regional authority. (Refer to Part 1 of this series on June 12.)
The Shenandoah County Board of Supervisor was originally scheduled to discuss the issue at their meeting at the Government Center in Woodstock last night. Now, it’s reported that the next time they’ll be public discussion on the issue will be on August 6 at 1 p.m. at their Public Safety and Code Administration Committee meeting. The Supervisors have invited a number of pertinent speakers from the Commonwealth of Virginia to answer questions they have on the underlying details of a possible regional jail. Supervisor Dennis Morris is the chairperson of the committee.
Under a Commonwealth of Virginia program, Shenandoah County is under “a tight window” if they want to receive the 50% funding toward construction costs, according to Brandon Davis, the Director of Planning and Zoning for Shenandoah County. Last night, he said that a decision one way or the other will need to be made in “the “September-October time frame” this year. The Board is balancing making that deadline – if they elect to – with making sure they have all of the facts on a regional jail before they do. If they vote to proceed, the next step will be to draft and sign a “service agreement” with the other two counties to create the regional jail authority that will govern the facility.
The Shenandoah Board of Supervisors is on hiatus in July, so they won’t have their two regularly-scheduled meetings next month. The public is encouraged to get involved in this issue as it affects Shenandoah County residents directly, and is a matter of local vs. state/Federal jurisdiction.
