This RT Article Needs To Be Shared Everywhere

The Riverside Regional Jail, like our Middle River one, houses inmates from surrounding
jurisdictions. Meanwhile Middle River Regional Jail is considering expanding, while
Riverside now has room to spare.

The Riverside Regional Jail has relied on Chesterfield County for a significant part of its inmate population, but the Chesterfield Jail's numbers are projected to drop by 34% this year, leaving the RRJ hurting for operating funds. 

Chesterfield and now Rappahannock are two Virginia jails that are utilizing the McShin Foundation's heroin treatment program, as noted in the article below (used with the reporter's permission):

Drop in inmates at Riverside Regional Jail fuels a budget deficit of millions of dollars

By Mark Bowes

Richmond Times Dispatch

Tuesday, March 5, 2019

Riverside Regional Jail will operate with a $2.4 million budget deficit in the coming fiscal year, due largely to a substantial projected drop in the average number of inmates the facility will house and climbing pharmaceutical services.

Riverside receives nearly half its funding or about $20 million, from the revenue provided by the seven localities in Central Virginia that use the jail.

Chesterfield County supplies nearly half of the inmates, and because that number is projected to drop by 34 percent, the county's share of the budget will fall from $11.9 million in the current fiscal year to a projected $8.4 million in fiscal 2020.

Chesterfield's sheriff, Karl Leonard, attributed the county's drop in part to rehabilitation programs his department has created for offenders with substance abuse problems and more inmates being diverted by county judges into diversion programs rather than sending them to jail. In addition to inmates sent to Riverside, Chesterfield runs a separate county jail that houses roughly 300 inmates.

"Our rehabilitative measures are having an effect," Leonard said. "We're seeing less repeat offenders and our overall numbers are going down."

The jail's 14-member governing body last week passed a $42.6 million operating budget -- with two dissenting votes -- that includes a projected deficit of $2,463,450. The board voted to fill the gap with "rainy day" reserves.

(Email mbowes@timesdispatch.com for a complete copy of this article)