Compensation Board (157)

Authority: §§ 53.1-83.1, 53.1-84 and 53.1-85, Code of Virginia.

A. In the event the appropriation in this Item proves to be insufficient to fund all of its provisions, any amount remaining as of June 1, 2015, and June 1, 2016, may be reallocated among localities on a pro rata basis according to such deficiency.

B. For the purposes of this Item, the following definitions shall be applicable:

1. Effective sentence--a convicted offender’s sentence as rendered by the court less any portion of the sentence suspended by the court.

2. Local responsible inmate--(a) any person arrested on a state warrant and incarcerated in a local correctional facility, as defined by § 53.1-1, Code of Virginia, prior to trial; (b) any person convicted of a misdemeanor offense and sentenced to a term in a local correctional facility; or (c) any person convicted of a felony offense and given an effective sentence of (i) twelve months or less or (ii) less than one year.

3. State responsible inmate--any person convicted of one or more felony offenses and (a) the sum of consecutive effective sentences for felonies, committed on or after January 1, 1995, is (i) more than 12 months or (ii) one year or more, or (b) the sum of consecutive effective sentences for felonies, committed before January 1, 1995, is more than two years.

C. The individual or entity responsible for operating any facility which receives funds from this Item may, if requested by the Department of Corrections, enter into an agreement with the department to accept the transfer of convicted felons, from other local facilities or from facilities operated by the Department of Corrections. In entering into any such agreements, or in effecting the transfer of offenders, the Department of Corrections shall consider the security requirements of transferred offenders and the capability of the local facility to maintain such offenders. For purposes of calculating the amount due each locality, all funds earned by the locality as a result of an agreement with the Department of Corrections shall be included as receipts from these appropriations.

D. Out of this appropriation, an amount not to exceed $377,010 the first year and $377,010 the second year from the general fund, is designated to be held in reserve for unbudgeted medical expenses incurred by local correctional facilities in the care of state responsible felons.

E. The following amounts shall be paid out of this appropriation to compensate localities for the cost of maintaining prisoners in local correctional facilities, as defined by § 53.1-1, Code of Virginia, or if the prisoner is not housed in a local correctional facility, in an alternative to incarceration program operated by, or under the authority of, the sheriff or jail board:

1. For local responsible inmates--$4 per inmate day, or, if the inmate is housed and maintained in a jail farm not under the control of the sheriff, the rate shall be $18 per inmate day.

2. For state responsible inmates--$12 per inmate day.

F. For the payment specified in paragraph E 1 of this Item for prisoners in alternative punishment or alternative to incarceration programs:

1. Such payment is intended to be made for prisoners that would otherwise be housed in a local correctional facility. It is not intended for prisoners that would otherwise be sentenced to community service or placed on probation.

2. No such payment shall be made unless the program has been approved by the Department of Corrections or the Department of Criminal Justice Services. Alternative punishment or alternative to incarceration programs, however, may include supervised work experience, treatment, and electronic monitoring programs.

G.1. Except as provided for in paragraph G 2, and notwithstanding any other provisions of this Item, the Compensation Board shall provide payment to any locality with an average daily jail population of under ten in FY 1995 an inmate per diem rate of $22 per day for local responsible inmates and $28 per day for state responsible inmates held in these jails in lieu of personal service costs for corrections' officers.

2. Any locality covered by the provisions of this paragraph shall be exempt from the provisions thereof provided that the locally elected sheriff, with the assistance of the Compensation Board, enters into good faith negotiations to house his prisoners in an existing local or regional jail. In establishing the per diem rate and capital contribution, if any, to be charged to such locality by a local or regional jail, the Compensation Board and the local sheriff or regional jail authority shall consider the operating support and capital contribution made by the Commonwealth, as required by §§ 15.2-1613, 15.2-1615.1, 53.1-80, and 53.1-81, Code of Virginia. The Compensation Board shall report periodically to the Chairmen of the House Appropriations and Senate Finance Committees on the progress of these negotiations and may withhold the exemption granted by this paragraph if, in the board's opinion, the local sheriff fails to negotiate in good faith.

H.1. The Compensation Board shall recover the state-funded costs associated with housing federal inmates, District of Columbia inmates or contract inmates from other states. The Compensation Board shall determine, by individual jail, the amount to be recovered by the Commonwealth by multiplying the jail's current inmate days for this population by the proportion of the jail's per inmate day salary funds provided by the Commonwealth, as identified in the most recent Jail Cost Report prepared by the Compensation Board. Beginning July 1, 2009, the Compensation Board shall determine, by individual jail, the amount to be recovered by the Commonwealth by multiplying the jail's current inmate days for this population by the proportion of the jail's per inmate day operating costs provided by the Commonwealth, excluding payments otherwise provided for in this Item, as identified in the most recent Jail Cost Report prepared by the Compensation Board. If a jail is not included in the most recent Jail Cost Report, the Compensation Board shall use the statewide average of per inmate day salary funds provided by the Commonwealth.

2. The Compensation Board shall deduct the amount to be recovered by the Commonwealth from the facility's next quarterly per diem payment for state-responsible and local-responsible inmates. Should the next quarterly per diem payment owed the locality not be sufficient against which to net the total quarterly recovery amount, the locality shall remit the remaining amount not recovered to the Compensation Board.

3. Any local or regional jail which receives funding from the Compensation Board shall give priority to the housing of local-responsible, state-responsible, and state contract inmates, in that order, as provided in paragraph H 1.

4. The Compensation Board shall not provide any inmate per diem payments to any local or regional jail which holds federal inmates in excess of the number of beds contracted for with the Department of Corrections, unless the Director, Department of Corrections, certifies to the Chairman of the Compensation Board that a) such contract beds are not required; b) the facility has operational capacity built under contract with the federal government; c) the facility has received a grant from the federal government for a portion of the capital costs; or d) the facility has applied to the Department of Corrections for participation in the contract bed program with a sufficient number of beds to meet the Department of Corrections' need or ability to fund contract beds at that facility in any given fiscal year.

5. The Compensation Board shall apply the cost recovery methodology set out in paragraph H 1 of this Item to any jail which holds inmates from another state on a contractual basis. However, recovery in such circumstances shall not be made for inmates held pending extradition to other states or pending transfer to the Virginia Department of Corrections.

6. The provisions of this paragraph shall not apply to any local or regional jail where the cumulative federal share of capital costs exceeds the Commonwealth's cumulative capital contribution.

7. For a local or regional jail which operates bed space specifically built utilizing federal capital or grant funds for the housing of federal inmates and for which Compensation Board funding has never been authorized for staff for such bed space, the Compensation Board shall allow an exemption from the recovery provided in paragraph H.1. for a defined number of federal prisoners upon certification by the sheriff or superintendent that the federal government has paid for the construction of bed space in the facility or provided a grant for a portion of the capital cost.  Such certification shall include specific funding amounts paid by the federal government, localities, and/or regional jail authorities, and the Commonwealth for the construction of bed space specifically built for the housing of federal inmates and for the construction of the jail facility in its entirety.  The defined number of federal prisoners to be exempted from the recovery provided in paragraph H.1. shall be based upon the proportion of funding paid by the federal government and localities and/or regional jail authorities for the construction of bed space to house federal prisoners to the total funding paid by all sources, including the Commonwealth, for all construction costs for the jail facility in its entirety.

8. Beginning March 1, 2013, federal inmates placed in the custody of a regional jail pursuant to a work release program operated by the federal Bureau of Prisons shall be exempt from the recovery of costs associated with housing federal inmates pursuant to paragraph H.1. of this item if such federal inmates have been assigned by the federal Bureau of Prisons to a home electronic monitoring program in place for such inmates by agreement with the jail on or before January 1, 2012 and are not housed in the jail facility.  However, no such exemption shall apply to any federal inmate while they are housed in the regional jail facility.

I. Any amounts in the program Financial Assistance for Confinement of Inmates in Local and Regional Facilities, may be transferred between Items 66 and 67, as needed, to cover any deficits incurred in the programs Financial Assistance for Sheriffs’ Offices and Regional Jails and Financial Assistance for Confinement of Inmates in Local and Regional Facilities.

J. Projected growth in per diem payments for the support of prisoners in local and regional jails shall be based on actual inmate population counts up through the first quarter of the affected fiscal year.

K. The Compensation Board shall provide an annual report on the number and diagnoses of inmates with mental illnesses in local and regional jails, the treatment services provided, and expenditures on jail mental health programs. The report shall be prepared in cooperation with the Virginia Sheriffs Association, the Virginia Association of Regional Jails, the Virginia Association of Community Services Boards, and the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, and shall be coordinated with the data submissions required for the annual jail cost report. Copies of this report shall be provided by November 1 of each year to the Governor, Director, Department of Planning and Budget, and the Chairmen of the Senate Finance and House Appropriations Committees.