Virginia Department of Corrections

The Virginia Department of Corrections (DOC) is the government agency responsible for operating prisons and correctional facilities for the US Commonwealth of Virginia. The agency is fully accredited by the American Correctional Association and is one of the oldest functioning correctional agencies in the United States.

History

Virginia, from the time of the first settlement at Jamestown to the relocation of the state capital to Richmond in the late 1700s, relied upon corporal and capital punishment as its penal measures. Gradually, Virginia began to use small county jails for sentences of confinement.

After the Revolutionary War, Thomas Jefferson began to urge the Virginia construct a "penitentiary house" as was being done in Europe. At that time, penitentiary house were being used throughout Europe to confine and reform criminals. Unfortunately, for more than a decade, the Virginia General Assembly ignored Jefferson's ideas.

In 1796, a wave of reform swept the Virginia Legislature, and Benjamin Latrobe was engaged to design a penitentiary house for the newly formed Virginia Department of Welfare and Institutions. Latrobe's facility was constructed on a site outside of Richmond overlooking the James River. The facility, which received its first prisoners in 1800 and was completed (with prison labor) in 1804, was known by generations of Virginians as the Virginia State Penitentiary or "The Pen". This structure later burned and was razed in 1905. A new facility was built and operated continuously until being demolished in 1992. In 1896, a farm operation (James River Correctional Center) was established for "miscreants and the infirm" in Goochland County. This facility continues to operate in the same location to this day.

Since the 1800s, Virginia has opened many more correctional facilities. In 1944, the Virginia Department of Corrections was officially formed out of the former Virginia Department of Welfare and Institutions, the Virginia Parole Board and the Virginia Department of Probation and Parole Services by an act of the Virginia Legislature. Today, the Virginia Department of Corrections, which oversees the operation of the Commonwealth's adult corrections facilities, operates approximately 50 institutions statewide and 43 probation and parole districts. As of 2001, the Virginia Department of Corrections has 31,000 inmates, supervises over 50,000 probationers or parolees and 15,000 employees.

Organizational structure

The Virginia Department of Corrections is an agency of the Virginia Secretariat of Public Safety, under the leadership of Secretary of Public Safey John W. Marshall, and DOC Director Gene M. Johnson. Formerly deputy director, Johnson was appointed to replace the controversial Ron Angelone, who served 8 years under Governor George Allen and Jim Gilmore before resigning early during the term of Governor Mark Warner.

The Director is the Chief Executive Officer for the Virginia Department of Corrections. The Department is divided into four divisions, and the Director appoints a Deputy Director at the head of each division. The divisions are: The Division of Operations, The Division of Administration, the Division of Community Corrections, and the Division of Human Resources. In addition, there is an Office of Inspector General for the Department of Corrections, who is also appointed by the Director.

Community Corrections

Community Corrections official began in Virginia before the creation of the Department of Corrections. It was established as its own independent agency on October 1, 1942 as the Probation and Parole Services Agency. It has steadily added investigatory and supervision responsibilities for an increasing number of criminal offender categories. Agents of the Community Corrections division are usually referred to as probation and parole officers. In 1995, the practice of parole was abolished by an act of the Virginia legislature after years of high profile cases were murders were committed by parolees. The sentencing courts can not dictate when the offender will be released, calling it post-release supervision.

Initially charged with the supervision and investigation of felon probationers, discretionary parolees and conditional parolees without benefit of specialized staff or internal service resources, Community Corrections has evolved into a nationally accredited agency within the Virginia Department of Corrections. Officers are now mandated to investigate and prepare Presentence Reports on all convicted felons, perform victim impact statements, calculate sentencing guidelines, prepare risk assessments for the courts on sexual offenders, technical violators and non-violent defendants, provided victims with information, conduct Interstate Compact transfer investigations, report on drug dealers and gang members to the Virginia Commonwealth Attorney's Office; screen, assess, test and treat offenders with substance abuse or alcohol problems, identify public assistance recipients who test positively for illegal drugs and supervise the above groups of offenders along with mandatory releasees, geriatric releasees, postrelease supervisees, deferred judgment cases; plus administratively directed drug court program offenders. In addition, it is responsible for the Department and Board of Corrections' activities with local and regional jails and providing staff support for the Virginia Parole Board.

The "abolish parole" legislation enacted in 1994 re-engineered the criminal justice system in Virginia and codified the Statewide Community-Based Corrections System for state responsible offenders. This significantly increased the sentencing and sanctioning options for the Circuit Courts and the Parole Board. The result has been the establishment of a complex and diversified organization with a wide array of programs and services.

Currently, the Community Corrections system includes a central and four (4) regional administrative offices, six (6) central support units, forty-two(42) probation and parole districts (offices,) seven (7) drug court programs, ten (10) day reporting centers, six (6) diversion centers, four (4) detention centers, a boot camp, work release contracts with thirty (30) jails, ten (10) adult residential transition therapeutic community contract facilities and more than sixty (60) service contracts and memoranda of agreement (MOA.) Its staff administers the Interstate Compact Unit for the Supervision of Probationers and Parolees, conducts more than 79,000 investigations annually and supervises over 49,000 felon offenders.Probation and Parole Officers are authorized to carry a concealed weapon after completing psychological testing, a comprehensive criminal background check and 40 hours of training. This authorization was granted to them by the Virginia Legislature in 1995.

Facilities

List of Virginia state prisons

ee also

*List of United States state correction agencies
*List of law enforcement agencies in Virginia
*Prison

External links

* [http://www.vadoc.state.va.us Virginia Department of Corrections]
* [http://www.appalshop.org/h2h/film/screenings.htm Up the Ridge, a documentary film about the Virginia prison system]