A Strange Kind Of Manger Power

Lin Wellford rock painting

The Christmas story in Luke’s gospel begins by naming the head of the major super power of the day, the Roman empire's Caesar Augustus. He issues a decree that "all the world should be taxed” and the writer notes that this census was first taken when Quirinius was governor of Syria. And in Matthew’s gospel King Herod, puppet governor of Roman-occupied Judea, is named as well.

These were ruthless, powerful men under whose occupation rebellions were met with brutal force. Subjects who dared to defy them were crucified, beaten or beheaded as a way of keeping the population intimidated and under submission.

And like many monarchs of his time, Emperor Caesar Augustus claimed to be a divine son of God, and a God himself, with titles like "Lord", "God from God", "Liberator"and "Savior of the World". So the early gospel writers were placing their lives in jeopardy by claiming divine birth for a child born of a peasant girl in an occupied country, one whose revolutionary and worldwide new kingdom, to be ruled justly by Yahweh alone, was to prevail over the entire earth--just as it was in heaven.

Citizens of such a government, whose treasonous pledge of allegiance is "Jesus is Lord" rather than the required "Caesar is Lord" are frequently martyred for their heresy. And Herod commanded that all male children in the area around Bethlehem be killed out of his fear of a coming rival.

All of which makes Christmas more than just about festivity and merrymaking, but a bold announcement about who, and what power, is really sovereign, a declaration that still divides the world in two.

Two thousand years later no one knows or cares much about the Roman empire's Caesar Augustus or his contemporaries King Herod of Judea or Governor Quirinius of Syria. It is the babe in the manger who still commands the greater allegiance.

This is based on one of our FLRC Centerpiece radio spot aired locally on WEMC 91.7 FM 11:58 am M-F and Sun 7:58, WBTX 1470 AM 4:20 pm M-F and WNLR 1150 AM 11:28 am M,W,F.  

[satire alert] A Sincere Letter Requesting State Funds For The Construction Of A $63 Million Jail (in the unlikely event we decide to build one, which we probably won't, but we do need to get in line for the free money)

This attempt at some tongue-in-cheek humor about our community's fast track process (in applying for state money for possible jail construction) is not meant to offend. I continue to highly value, respect and pray for all of our local policy makers.

Dear friends in Richmond,

Here is our sincere request for a half of the construction cost of a second jail we may decide to build right next to our County/City Landfill, where we deposit our refuse and where we hope we won't get a lot of "NIMBY" (not in my backyard) from local residents.

As you will see below, we've done everything required in order to get in line for millions in state matching funds, money we understand comes from taxes levied elsewhere (hopefully outside the commonwealth, but certainly outside our Valley). We're not the richest locality in the state, so we could sure use this form of public assistance, and as you will see, we've taken all the steps necessary to qualify for it--and in a fraction of the time the City of Richmond took to go through a similar process. We went through all the steps in a mere five months instead of their five years, then wrapped everything up this week in three days. Is that speedy or what?

Step One: As you can see, we've already come up with the mandatory Community-Based Corrections Plan, one that's required to show how we are going to reduce the number of people we put behind bars while at the same time proving that we need to increase the number of beds available to put more people behind bars. That seemed a little tricky for us to pull off, and since our time was really short to get in line for the free money by our end-of-year deadline, we decided to outsource this inconvenience to a group in Richmond who can do this sort of thing quickly, and at just over $1000 a page. And as the report shows, over the past two decades we've found ways to add five times the number of people we have in our jail, while our population has grown only 25% and our crime rate is actually decreasing.  We sincerely hope all this makes sense to you!

Step Two. You also require that we have a twenty-member Community Criminal Justice Board to give their approval to such a plan and to advise and to oversee such matters. This was a fairly easy step, since all of the members of the CCJB are good folks who are already on our local government payroll, and most of them are salaried by the very criminal justice system they are to oversee. I'm sure you can see how this made things a lot simpler!

Knowing we were so short of time this group met within two weeks of copies of the Richmond-produced Community-Based Corrections Plan first being available. Their first action was to approve the minutes of their last meeting of just over a year ago, which shows that the group meets at least annually. And in spite of their busy schedules, they took the time to give their unanimous approval in short order, in a room packed with 150 cranky citizens from the community who were there to observe the process and to show their wish for more time for a community-based study that might involve, for example, some Restorative Justice alternatives in some cases. But the 20-member CCJB  fearlessly moved to approve the Richmond plan with no actual debate and no dissent. What a miracle!

Step Three: On the very next evening the five-man City Council met to give its approval to what the CCJB had just passed the day before. Only one member of the Council voted against it, and three others declared they didn't think a jail would (or even should) actually be built, but that it was their responsibility to apply for all the free money they could get in order to build another jail in case they decided later they needed a second jail after all. We hope all this makes sense!

It certainly makes sense to us, in spite of the fact that all the citizens packed in the meeting room were opposed to asking for assistance for additional jail space at $200,000 per bed and with an annual $10 million estimated operating cost. These disgruntled types just couldn't seem to understand that all the Council wanted to do was to have everyone vote for the proposal so that those who wished could then later vote against it. Yet in spite of their best efforts to explain this, the naysayers in the room just couldn't grasp the concept. So it appears that not only are we not the richest locality in the state, we're probably not the brightest, either, given this inability to convince the opposition of how much this actually makes sense, as it really and truly does, doesn't it?

Final Step: The very next afternoon the five-man County Board of Supervisors met to add its stamp of approval. All went smoothly as planned. The chair graciously expressed appreciation for the several dozen dissenters in the room, all those still not sure this kind of speed and efficiency is always good when it comes to $63 million questions. These attendees included, by the way, one 14-year-old young woman who had gathered over two hundred petition signatures (making now nearly 1000 in all, including an online version) of people who felt we should take more time instead of getting all this wrapped up in three days, just in time for Santa Claus (needless to say, we're great fans of the Richmond-based St. Nick!).

In conclusion, we hope all of you are impressed by how efficiently and agreeably we work together on things like this when we have to--and when there's money involved. With only one supervisor and one council member voting No, it also shows you how well we all get along and go along.

So please, please, give us a place--in whatever line we need to be in--for the free money. We'll figure out later exactly how we're going to use it.

Sincerely,

Harrisonburg City Council
Rockingham County Board of Supervisors


P.S. Here is an audio link to the good conversation among members of the Harrisonburg city council on Tuesday. They, like our supervisors, are all good people who want what's best for our community and who have stated their willingness to hear from us:

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The Western Lunatic Asylum--In 1828, A State Of The Art Facility

Western State Hospital photo

It seemed like a great idea at the time. Get all of the mentally ill off the streets and into a hospital-like setting. What could go wrong?

Virginia was the first of the colonies to build a facility devoted solely to house the "insane and feeble minded". A Quaker hospital in Philadelphia had a unit for such unfortunates, but they were all confined in the basement of the facility.

In a November, 1766, session of the House of Burgesses, Francis Fauquier, then Royal Governor of the colony of Virginia, proposed: "It is expedient I should also recommend to your Consideration and Humanity a poor unhappy set of People who are deprived of their senses and wander about the Country, terrifying the Rest of their fellow creatures. A legal Confinement, and proper Provision, ought to be appointed for these miserable Objects, who cannot help themselves. Every civilized Country has an Hospital for these People, where they are confined, maintained and attended by able Physicians, to endeavor to restore to them their lost reason."^[1]
 
In that day this kind of "legal confinement" was seen as the most humane and enlightened way to deal with the mentally ill, and in 1770, the Public Hospital for Persons of Insane and Disordered Minds was established in Willamsburg. When this institution became overcrowded, a second asylum was approved by the General Assembly, the Staunton-based "Western Lunatic Asylum" that later became Western State Hospital. Opened in 1828, it was originally designed provide a calming and comfortable setting in which people could regain their sanity and return to normal life.

(In 1861 the Staunton-based facility was renamed the Central Lunatic Asylum, but a new hospital built in Petersburg for people of color would soon take on this name, and in 1894 the former "lunatic asylum" was officially named Western State Hospital.)

The enlightened plans of the hospital's founder and director, Dr. Francis Stribling, were soon compromised, however, by lack of sufficient state funds allocated to maintain this kind of idyllic setting. As more and more beds were added, Western State became just another place where society's undesirables could be conveniently put away and warehoused, many of them for life.

In time it became apparent that the best and most therapeutic environment for people to receive mental health care was in the context of their own families and communities, and a program of "de-institutionalization" in the 60's and '70's resulted in the formation of Community Service Boards throughout the state to provide care and treatment. For a time the main campus of Western State was turned into a state prison, the Staunton Correctional Center. Little renovation was necessary since WHS had become largely a place for confining people and keeping them separate from the rest of society.

During its long history, Western State, like other institutions of its time, practiced inhumane forms of restraint, seclusion, and even prefrontal lobotomies. Dr. Josepf DeJarnette, a well known physician and a strong proponent of eugenics, became superintendent in 1905, and during his 38-year tenure many patients were sterilized based on the belief that mental illness was largely a genetic condition.

After World War II, the use of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) and new psychotropic drugs changed many of the ways society treated mental illness. Today, the old site of the former Western State hospital, which at its peak housed 3000 patients, is being renovated into upscale condominiums called Villages at Staunton. Swords into plowshares?

What are the lessons to be learned as we attempt to address other social problems today? How can we employ proven best practices in treating people with substance addictions, for example, or who are charged with violating the law?

My New And Revised 2014 Christmas Card List

Adoration of the Shepherds by Guido Reni

"Remember those in prison as if you were also in bonds, and those who suffer as though you were suffering with them."  Hebrews 13:2

One good way to "remember" this year is by sending a Christmas card to someone behind bars. It will mean more than you can imagine.

You can include an article, a photocopy of an inspirational piece, your Christmas letter, etc., (total of one ounce or less, and no more than four items) and send it to one or more of the following persons, or to some other inmates you know. It may totally make their day:

James E. Bender #1010837 (seeks parole after spending years in prison)
Greensville Correctional Center
901 Corrections Way
Jarratt, VA 23870-6914

Stephano Colosi #1037581 (active advocate for geriatric release for aging prisoners)
Buckingham Correctional Center
P. O. Box 430
Dillwyn, VA 23936-0430

M. Steven W. Goodman #1028377 (active in doing legal research on restoration of parole)
Green Rock Correctional Center
P. O. Box 1000
Chatham, VA 24531

A. Jefferson Grissette #1143033 (wrongfully sentenced based on plea bargain and photo line-up)
St. Brides Correctional Facility
P.O. Box 16482
Chesapeake, VA 23328

Ferlin Hevener #26055 (seeks parole based on good behavior record in prison)
One Mountainside Way
Mt. Olive, WV 25185

Nat Painter 1009725 (age 73, incarcerated 19 years, denied geriatric release in spite of good record)
Coffeewood Correctional Center
12352 Coffeewood Drive
Mitchells, VA 22792

Jens Soering #1161655 (German author, age 47, in prison since 1986 for a wrongful confession)
Buckingham Correctional Center
P.O. Box 430
Dillwyn, VA 23936-0430

Jonathan D. White #1161021 (has worked hard to earn parole, has been denied year after year)
Augusta Correctional Center
1821 Estaline Valley Road
Craigsville VA 24430

Charles E. Zellers, Sr. #1036758 (also denied parole year after year in spite of an excellent record)
Buckingham Correctional Center B1-113-T
P.O. Box 430
Dillwyn, VA 23936

If for whatever reason you prefer not to include your return address with your letter, you can have the person respond to me and I'll relay their message to you (assuming I have your contact information). In my 50-plus years of corresponding with individuals in prison I have never had any problems resulting from disclosing my address, but some recommend against it.

On A Fast Track? How My Community Makes A $63 Million Decision

Monday's meeting here at 4pm in the Fire and Rescue room

In spite of my having lived in this area most of my adult life, I've never paid much attention to how members of the Harrisonburg City Council and the Rockingham County Board of Supervisors conduct their business.

However, recent steps taken to apply for matching money for a second jail got my attention in a big way, based on my lifelong concern for rehabilitating, rather than merely incarcerating, ever more of our offenders.

Here's a timeline of some of the steps taken so far in the process of applying for "free"(?) state money to build a second $63 million jail

Spring 2014:  Local legislators outsourced the state mandated "Community-Based Corrections Study" to a Richmond firm,  Moseley Architects, at a cost to taxpayers of $120,000. The state requires that this must include concrete steps to reduce the number of people we incarcerate as well as to make the case for more jail space if deemed necessary (our jail numbers have increased by 500% since 1995 while our crime rates have not, and our area population has grown by only 25%).

Note: The Moseley firm was involved in the study that went into the design and construction of the present maximum security jail on South Liberty Street in 1995. This replaced an existing jail with a capacity of 70 inmates. Our present one, built for 208 but double bunked to hold up to twice that number, is poorly designed to serve the needs of its majority of non-violent offenders.

August 7, 11 and 14: Open hearings on the matter were held at Spotswood High School, the City Council Chamber and at Turner Ashby High School.  According to the Moseley report, "Most citizens attending the public “Listening Sessions,” were vocally opposed to expanding jail capacity and expressed frustrations at what they perceived was a lack of jail alternative programs and treatment options for persons processed through the local criminal justice system."

Note: Actually, no one actually spoke out in favor of building a second jail, but many encouraged options like the use of Restorative Justice, the use of more GPS ankle monitoring systems for home incarceration (but allowing persons to continue their employment), more treatment options for drug offenders, etc.

November 20: Moseley Architects issued its report, which recommends a $63 million second jail to be built next to the County Landfill, but also includes recommendations for alternatives like making bond available to more of the 40% of jail inmates who are presently in jail awaiting trial, having a Drug Court that would focus more on treatment alternatives to incarceration, establishing a Day Reporting program such as already proven successful in reducing jail numbers, etc. The report includes no mention of restorative justice, however, in spite of the fact that the Fairfield Center and EMU's Center for Justice and Peacebuilding have for years been pioneers in this internationally recognized process. Neither was ever contacted by Moseley.

Note: The City of Richmond recently engaged in a five year (rather than a five month) study prior to building a new jail.

December 8:  A 20-member Community Criminal Justice Board, which hasn't met in over a year, will convene to give its approval before the proposal for state funding for the $63 million proposal can go forward (with an estimated $10 million additional annual budget for operating costs).   This meeting, set for 4 pm Monday at the County Administration building at 20 E. Gay Street, is open to the public but is not an open hearing. 

Note some interesting facts about the membership of the CCJB as mandated by the state:

1. It is made up entirely of people with government-funded positions.
2. The majority of its members are a part of the very criminal justice system they are appointed to oversee.
3. With the exception of the chairman of the County Board of Supervisors and the Mayor of Harrisonburg, no one represents the business community or any other part of the private or non-profit sector (such as non-governmental service providers and/or other non-profit service agencies or institutions).
4. The make up of the group bears no resemblance to the racial and ethnic diversity of our community.

December 9: The Harrisonburg City Council will take some kind of formal action on the proposal.

December 10: The County Board of Supervisors will do the same at its 3 pm meeting. 

Note: I know we're having to pay $1 million a year to house some of our inmates at the Middle River Regional Jail just 25-minutes away (which has a capacity of 900 and has never been full), but compared to what we could be investing in as proposed by the Moseley plan this could be seen as a phenomenal bargain.

I welcome any needed corrections or comments.

Click here for more posts on local jail concerns, and here's an interesting link about Virginia's "peculiar" jail system.

The Best Christmas Open House Yet

Gemeinschaft Home, a 40-bed residential facility, is about to celebrate its 30th year

Gemeinschaft Home is having what looks like its best year in all of its 30-year history.

As a long time board member, I am happy to invite you hear more at the 2014 Christmas Reception and Open House this Sunday afternoon, December 7, at 1423 Mt. Clinton Pike, just west of EMU. Hours are from 1:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

At 2:00 p.m. you are invited to attend an approximately 30-minute informational presentation in the Bender Building behind the main house. An update about our program will be presented by staff and residents. Please join us to learn more about the exciting things happening at Gemeinschaft, and feel free to bring your questions.

Before and after these presentations you are invited to enjoy hot drinks and freshly baked Christmas treats from the Gemeinschaft kitchen. Residents and staff will be available to take you on a brief tour of the House, where you will see a Christmas tree decorated with colorful cards (such as the one below) with names of friends like you.

You can let us know if you can join us by calling Melissa at 434-1690 or email her at exeassistant@gemeinschafthome.com, but you are also welcome to just drop by unannounced. Parking will be available on both the east (upper) and west (lower) sides of the Home.

You are encouraged to make a generous year-end donation when you arrive, or by either mailing it in or giving a gift online. Your support means so much to us and to our residents who are here for the opportunity to have a fresh new start in life after having been incarcerated.

Thanks for caring--and please invite your friends to join us too!

Sam Showalter, Chair,
Gemeinschaft Board of Directors

Other current board members are Timothy Brazill,  John Butler, MuAwia DaMes, Chris Edwards, Don Foth, John Holloran, Randy Hook, Chris Johnson, Larry Hoover, Joan Kauffman, Kay Knichrehm, Sam Miller, Ron Pierantoni, Doris Pye, Everett Ressler and Carl Stauffer.


P. S. Bring your copy of the little card below if you received one in the mail, or you may pick one up when you arrive and have a resident tie it to our Christmas tree as a sign of your support..

                                                                     

15 Statements In the Moseley Architects Report That Could Negate The Need For A Second Jail

Here are 15 remarkable statements from the 140-page Moseley Architects' own "Community-Based Corrections Plan" which, if taken seriously, would reduce or eliminate the need for a second jail for Harrisonburg and Rockingham County (I've inserted the numbers 1-15 and have highlighted some items in bold for emphasis).

p. 115 Adult Drug Court

(1) According to the Virginia Supreme Court “the scientific evidence is overwhelming that adult drug courts reduce crime, reduce substance abuse, improve family relationships, and increase earning potential. In the process drug courts return net dollar savings back to their communities that are at least two to three times the initial investments”. According to the National Center for State Courts, in a report entitled “Virginia Adult Drug Treatment Courts,” (October 2012), in fiscal year 2011, Drug Courts in Virginia saved taxpayers $19,234 per person as compared to traditional case processing, and that Drug Courts reduced recidivism rates for the persons completing a program."

p. 121 Day Reporting Centers

(2) Day Reporting can be adapted to a number of different populations. In Virginia, they are utilized to offer enhanced treatment and supervision to probationers or sentenced offenders not on probation; to monitor early released inmates from jail; to monitor arrested persons prior to trial; as a halfway-out step for inmates who have shown progress in community corrections or work-

release centers; and as a halfway-in step for offenders who are in violation of probation. Sometimes referred to as a “one-stop” shop, a Day Reporting Center offers many of programs and services that best practices suggests reduces the likelihood of reoffending; reduces recidivism, and eventually reduce jail bed space requirements, including: individual and group counseling, substance abuse education, anger management, domestic violence prevention, cognitive and life skills training, parenting and family reintegration, community service, education/GED preparation, and reentry services.

p. 124 Implementing New Programs: The Jail Bed Space Impact

(3) Rockingham - Harrisonburg should initiate a long range planning strategy to investigate, develop and implement a continuum of jail-based ... programs and services for persons with mental health and substance abuse issues, and programs and services which target the probation violator population which appears to be utilizing a substantial portion of jail beds. 

p. 127 Inmate Population Forecast
Significant Finding: If existing policies, procedures and administrative practices remain unchanged in the future, the Rockingham-Harrisonburg Regional Jail inmate population (excluding federal prisoners) is projected to reach 524 inmates in FY-21, and 675 inmates by the year FY-29. 

p. 136ff SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS
(4) Most citizens attending the public “Listening Sessions,” were vocally opposed to expanding jail capacity and expressed frustrations at what they perceived was a lack of jail alternative programs and treatment options for persons processed through the local criminal justice system. 

(5) The evidence uncovered during this project suggests that several key offender groups should be targeted in order to control future jail population growth: (1) offenders in un-sentenced awaiting trial (approximately 40% of the inmate population); (2) probation violators (by a number of measures a disproportionally large offender group), and (3) offenders with substantial substance/mental health issues that are associated with repeated criminal behavior and contribute to the jail’s “revolving door.” 

(6) Increase system coordination, goal setting, oversight and improved planning information and regular dissemination to decision making. The community has a formal Community Criminal Justice Board (CCJB) with the statutory responsibility to: (1) advise on the development and operation of local pretrial services and community-based probation programs and services for use by the courts in diverting offenders from local correctional facilities; (2) assist community agencies in establishing and modifying programs and services for offenders; (3) evaluate and monitor community programs, services and facilities; and (4) develop and amend criminal justice plans. This group should oversee an ongoing planning effort that focuses the issues associated continuing crowding at all levels of the local system. 

(7) It is recommended that several smaller sub-committees, whose membership consists of persons with specific areas of expertise in various areas of the local system, be established to focus on and investigate portions of the system by reviewing, analyzing and identifying processes and programs within the system that can be enhanced to create a more effective and efficient criminal justice system. These sub-committees should include a broad spectrum of representatives from the criminal justice, public health, higher education communities, as well as concerned citizens. 

(8) Investigate ways to reduce intake. Programs and administrative practices aimed at reducing intake should be evaluated and implemented. Early and effective pretrial programming should be enhanced with the goal of reducing future intake pressure. 

(9) Investigate pretrial confinement policies, procedures and administrative practices. While this report contains an initial profile of persons detained in pretrial status, further investigation is recommended to determine risk levels of persons incarcerated, bond statuses and reasons for confinement. There are, for example, a large number of detainees who are confined without bond for reasons that are not apparent. In addition, available data suggests that over 90% of ordered secure bonds are for amounts of $5,000 or less – amounts that poor people may not be able or willing to pay. In the face of research that suggests that requirements of small secured bond amounts is not related to public safety or appearances in court, further investigation is recommended.

(10) Increase current pretrial and local probation staff levels. Decision makers should consider funding new positions rather waiting for the State funding process which can take several years. There should be phased plan for the expansion of Pretrial and Local Probation services and program options to coincide with the jail planning. A total of 6.5 pretrial and local probation officers combined to provide services to a community with over 125,000 residents with an annual operating budget of just over $635,000 is not adequate to provide services and programs for the offender population, and certainly does support any future expansion of programs and services in the community. Current staff levels for both pretrial and local probation services are inadequate to cope with current and projected workloads and should be increased (at a minimum) to a level in keeping with the projected growth in the offender population. 

(11) Expand home electronic monitoring and GPS monitoring as pre- and post- trial supervision options. While not widely used in Virginia, effective electronic monitoring of both pretrial and sentenced offenders who would otherwise be incarcerated in jail provides a viable and effective mechanism for controlling jail crowding. 

Investigate/implement an Adult Drug Court program. ...It is widely accepted that Drug Courts reduce recidivism for persons who complete the program. 

Investigate/Implement a Day Reporting program. ...Intermediate sanction programs such as intensive probation supervision, house arrest, electronic monitoring and day reporting are intended to serve as a step between the security and punishment of jails. ...This program has the potential to have a near term impact on jail bed needs by allowing targeted offenders to be removed from jail and admitted to this program. See (2) above


(12) Implement and strengthen new jail-based programs. ...including: Work Release, Education Release, Public Work Force, Electronic Home Monitoring, Weekend Sentencing (non-consecutive sentencing). In the consultants’ experience the jails across Virginia that operate the most robust jail-based programs have several important characteristics in common, they have: (1) sufficient space to provide programs and services (in both housing and support areas); (2) formed viable collaborations with community volunteer and community agency groups; (3) demonstrated commitments to providing programs and services to offenders through their jail operations, and (4) program options that have the support of key decision makers in their communities.

(14) Expand and strengthen reentry services for incarcerated offenders. The nature and extent of existing reentry programming was not entirely clear over the course of this project. However, the provision of reentry and transition services is an important service delivery component of many jail-based programs. 

(15) Provide expanded Mental Health and Substance Abuse services within the jail. Increasingly, offenders with chronic mental health issues are residing in local and regional jails, and greatly contributing to the “revolving jail door” that is apparent in Rockingham-Harrisonburg.

NOTE: Please contact some or all of the following members of the CCJB who are set to  meet at 4 pm Monday, December 8 , at the County Office to consider the Moseley report. This is not a public hearing as such but your respectful presence at the meeting, to be held at 4 pm in the Fire and Rescue room at County Administration on East Gay Street, will send an important message:

Community Criminal Justice Board Directory (CCJB)

The Honorable T.J. Wilson, Judge Rockingham County Circuit Court Judge of the Circuit Court 80 Court Square Courthouse Harrisonburg, VA 22802 Phone: (540) 564-3111 Fax: (540) 564-3127
The Honorable Bruce D. Albertson, Judge Rockingham County Circuit Court Judge of the Circuit Court 80 Court Square Courthouse Harrisonburg, VA 22802 Phone: (540) 564-3111 Fax: (540) 564-3127
The Honorable Richard A. Claybrook, Judge Rockingham County General District Court Judge of the General District Court 53 Court Square Room 132 Harrisonburg, VA 22801 Phone: (540) 564-3130 Civil # 540-564-3135 or 540-564-3138

Fax: (540) 564-3096 Clerk Ms Teresa Lynn Brown email: tbrown@courts.state.va.us

The Honorable H. David O'Donnell, Judge Rockingham County Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court Judge of the Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court 53 Court Square, 2nd Floor; Room 214 Harrisonburg, Virginia 22801 Phone: (540) 564-3370 Fax: (540) 563-3392

*Pablo Cuevas, Chairman of CCJB Rockingham County Board of Supervisors Rockingham County Governing Body 20 E. Gay St. Harrisonburg, VA 22802 Phone: (540) 896-7889

*Ted Byrd, Vice Chairman of CCJB Mayor, City of Harrisonburg City of Harrisonburg Governing Body 345 S. Main Street Harrisonburg, VA 22801 Byrd@harrisonburgva.gov

Donald D. Driver, Jr., Director Harrisonburg/Rockingham County Social Services Department of Social Services PO Box 809 Harrisonburg, VA 22803 P (540) 574-5100 F (540) 574-5127 E don.driver@dss.virginia.gov

Chaz W. Evans-Haywood Clerk of Circuit Court Rockingham County Circuit Court Rockingham County Courthouse Harrisonburg, VA 22801 clerkchaz@rockinghamcountyva.gov Phone: 540-564-3111 Fax: 540-564-3127

Bryan Hutcheson, Sheriff Rockingham County Sheriff's Department Sheriff of Rockingham County/Regional Jail Administrator 25 S. Liberty St. Harrisonburg, VA 22801 P (540) 564-3838 F (540) 564-3865 E bhutcheson@rockinghamcountyva.gov

Dr. Carol Fenn, Superintendent Rockingham County Public Schools Local Educator Rockingham County Public Schools 100 Mt. Clinton Pike Harrisonburg, VA 22802 P (540) 564-3230 F (540) 564-3241 E cfenn@rockingham.k12.va.us W rockingham.k12.va.us

Dr. Scott R. Kizner, Superintendent Harrisonburg City Schools Local Educator Harrisonburg City Schools One Court Square Harrisonburg, VA 22801 P (540) 434-9916 F (540) 434-5196

Marsha L. Garst Attorney for the Commonwealth Commonwealth's Attorney 53 Court Square Harrisonburg, VA 22801 P (540) 564-3350 F (540) 433-9161 E mgarst@rockinghamcountyva.gov

Chief Stephen Monticelli Chief of Police, Harrisonburg Police Department Harrisonburg Chief of Police 101 North Main Street Harrisonburg, Virginia 22802 Non-Emergency 540-434-4436

*Kurt Hodgen, City Manager Harrisonburg City City Manager's Office, Room 201 City of Harrisonburg Manager/Executive 345 South Main St

Harrisonburg, VA 22801
Kurt.Hodgen@harrisonburgva.gov 

Anne Lewis - Assistant City Manager -
Anne.Lewis@harrisonburgva.gov 

Louis K. Nagy, Esquire Public Defender/Criminal Defense 590 E. Market St. Harrisonburg, VA 22801
Phone: 540-315-8450 540-315-8450

Monica Martin, Chief Magistrate
26th Judicial District

Chief Magistrate of the 26th Judicial District

53 Court Square, Suite 180 Harrisonburg, VA 22801 540-564-3847 

*Joseph S. Paxton, Administrator Rockingham County

Rockingham County Administrator/Executive

20 E. Gay St.
Harrisonburg, VA 22802
P (540) 564-3011
F (540) 564-3017
E jpaxton@rockinghamcountyva.gov 

Lee Shifflett James Madison University Non-Emergency Telephone - Chief of Police 540.568.6912
shifflla@jmu.edu 

Ann Marie Freeman, CCJB Director, Rockingham- 540-564-3144
Staff Harrisonburg Court Services Unit 53 Court Sq Ste 175
Harrisonburg, Virginia 22801-3700
amfreeman@rockinghamcountyva.gov 

Lacy Whitmore

Director of Community Service Board

1241 North Main St 540-434-1941
Fax:

540-434-1791 

You can get involved by signing the petition at http://statlive.org/building-justice/petition.html as well as check this "Action Packet" link for more information. And please feel free to post links on social media and otherwise share this information with your friends.