PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) — In an extensive court hearing surrounding the controversy over the Portsmouth City Jail, Douglas Smith, the city’s building and code official, said the call to condemn the facility in July was “solely my judgment. No one told me to do it.”
Smith testified before Circuit Judge Johnny Morrison on Wednesday in the civil lawsuit brought by Sheriff Michael Moore against the city over the condemnation.
On Wednesday night, Morrison lifted a stay on the condemnation for all buildings at the Portsmouth civic center, but decided not to rule on the jail. He’s expected to make that ruling in the coming weeks.
Smith said his decision to condemn the jail followed an assessment of the jail from three consultants that found problems with the jail’s fire suppression system, unsanitary conditions, a lack of roof maintenance and other problems.
Smith testified he first brought concerns to City Manager Lydia Pettis-Patton back in February. He said they wanted to wait until reports on the buildings were complete before acting.
“Did you talk to the sheriff?” attorney Jon Babineau, representing Sheriff Moore, asked.
“No,” Smith replied.
“Why not?” Banineau shot back.
“He didn’t make himself available,” Smith said.
Moore contends he wasn’t notified until after the signs were put up.
Morrison is deciding two legal issues in the case. First, whether he should compel the city to act — from repairing the existing jail to building a new one. Second, he will rule whether to uphold Smith’s decision to condemn the jail.
Condemnation of the jail would force the city to relocate Portsmouth’s inmates at the city jail, currently numbering 281.
Moore has said he would try to place them at other area city jails while a new jail is built. Another option was placing them at Hampton Roads Regional Jail, also located in Portsmouth.
The city has an agreement to house a minimum of 250 inmates at HRRJ, but right now has fewer than 50. Moore decided late last year he would no longer send inmates there until the regional jail addressed problems cited by the Department of Justice. The DOJ’s report last December said the Regional Jail was providing inadequate medical and mental health care for inmates, and violating the eighth and fourteenth amendments.
“It would be neglectful on my part to add to the issues that the regional jail is having by constantly sending inmates to that facility, knowing that they don’t have the manpower and the medical unit is not where it should be,” Moore told the court Wednesday morning.
However Moore says he has full confidence that Regional Jail Superintendent David Hackworth will turn the facility around, once he gets the staff he needs. Hackworth says he has 21 vacant positions right now, disagrees with the DOJ report and says he has improved his services and staff.
“More mental health staff was added on. We increased the number of tele-site hours that we provide, we hired a psychiatric nurse practitioner. We have replaced several licensed practical nurses with registered nurses.”
Hackworth confirmed an incident in August when an inmate knocked down a dentist at HRRJ and then used a dental instrument to injure another inmate, even though corrections officers were present.
Portsmouth pays about $67 each for the 250 beds at HRRJ every day whether they’re used or not. Assistant City Attorney Burle Stromberg says that’s a waste of $13,000 every day.
Cheryl Spivey, Portsmouth Chief Financial Officer, said the city’s legal debt ceiling right now is about $5 million. The estimated cost of a new jail to the city is $46 million.
Spivey said the city would have to either raise property taxes or take funds away from other capital improvement projects such as schools, fire stations, recreational facilities or the seawall.
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CORRECTION: The TV broadcast of the story incorrectly spelled the name of attorney Jon Banineau. WAVY-TV regrets the error.