Overdue oversight for Va. prisons
Ombudsman office will protect inmates, staff in state corrections facilities
Almost eight months after a House committee rejected a bill to strengthen oversight of the Virginia Department of Corrections, the General Assembly reached agreement on a budget that will advance the core goals of that proposed legislation.
While the $250,000 appropriation to create an ombudsman office for VDOC may not be sufficient given the array of challenges and need for transparency facing that agency, a small step forward still represents progress and Virginians should be pleased to see this measure adopted.
The VDOC is the largest agency in the executive branch, employing more than 11,000 employees and commanding an annual budget of $1.5 billion. There were 24,563 people housed in VDOC facilities at the end of July, the most recent monthly population report available.
VDOC operates seven institutions in the Eastern Region, including Greensville Correctional Center, which has the largest prison population in Virginia. By most accounts, the agency does well to fulfill its mission of protecting public safety through the management of its inmate population and boasts one of the lowest recidivism rates in the nation, second only to South Carolina.
But no agency is without its problems, and there are plenty in Virginia prisons.
Recall, for instance, the strip search of an 8-year-old visitor to Buckingham Correctional Center in November 2019. The child was there to visit her father and was told that a refusal to consent to the search would result in the loss of visitation rights. It was one of several similar allegations made against VDOC employees, Virginian-Pilot reporting found.
Aside from those incidents, there are other concerns about VDOC operations — about access to health care and behavioral health care, concerns about inmate treatment
and protections, and the need for a streamlined process for filing, investigating and resolving complaints.
Addressing those issues and imposing stronger oversight for the protection of inmates and staff served as the impetus for legislation introduced earlier this year by state Sen. Dave Marsden, D-Fairfax.
Marsden’s bill would have created a 13-person Corrections Oversight Committee “made up of legislators, advocates, health professionals and formerly incarcerated people,” according to the Virginia Mercury. That committee would, in turn, hire an ombudsman to oversee VDOC operations.
Under the legislation, that individual would be authorized to conduct inspections at VDOC facilities and establish a hotline to collect complaints lodged by inmates, corrections staff and members of the public. The ombudsman would
have subpoena power to effect document release and compliance, but would not have policy-making authority or the ability to punish employees.
The most important aspect of the role is its independence. The public is right to look askance at investigations of an agency’s actions conducted by the agency itself. By creating a position outside the VDOC umbrella, it would empower an ombudsman to follow the evidence toward conclusions that may not be politically comfortable, but reflect the truth.
The budget agreement approved by lawmakers last week is a substantially scaled-down version of this. The final deal only includes $250,000 to launch the office; by contrast Marsden’s bill proposed $750,000 for start-up costs and $1.9 million annually for operations.
If that seems like a hefty price tag, Virginia Public Media reported that
Virginia paid about $1.8 million for outside counsel in corrections-related lawsuits between September 2021 and October 2022. So it’s a matter of pay now or pay later.
Virginia has a legal and moral responsibility to provide adequate housing and care for its inmate population, and someone should be watching to make sure the commonwealth fulfills its duty. An ombudsman can also protect VDOC officers and staff, ensuring working conditions are safe and that they, too, are treated with respect.
Strengthening oversight of the VDOC makes practical sense for the commonwealth. While Marsden’s bill was the better option for Virginia, and aspects should be revised when the General Assembly convenes in January, this amendment to the budget will help and its approval with bipartisan support is welcome.