PORTSMOUTH, Va. — After another long day in court, the fate of the Portsmouth City Jail is still unknown.
Attorneys for the City of Portsmouth and Portsmouth’s sheriff appeared in circuit court today to once again argue over its future.
It all boils down to this: Portsmouth City Council wants to close the Portsmouth City Jail and send inmates to the Hampton Roads Regional Jail (HRRJ), but the sheriff doesn't.
The City of Portsmouth has a contract with HRRJ to house the city's inmates. According to testimony from city manager Dr. L. Pettis-Patton, currently, there are more than 130 inmates at the city jail and about 20 Portsmouth inmates at HRRJ.
The sheriff voiced concerns about sending inmates to HRRJ because of a Department of Justice report which spoke to inmate deaths and violations of inmates' constitutional rights.
Judge Johnny Morrison had questions for both sides: asking the sheriff's attorney if he's asking the court to let the city breach its contract with the regional jail, and asking the city why they never renegotiated its contract with the regional jail, given the number of inmates it's housing now is much lower than the number of inmates housed when the contract was first signed.
After much testimony, Morrison told the court he wanted to give the city time to approach the regional jails board to re-negotiate its contract before he makes a final decision.
The re-negotiation is optional. If the city decides not to re-negotiate, Morrison asked the city's attorney to inform him of that decision.
The court will meet again on September 1.
City officials condemned the Portsmouth jail last year. But inmates were not moved out of the Portsmouth jail after the sheriff filed an injunction, which the court approved, requesting the jail remain open until plans for repairs can be made.
The sheriff sued the city, saying city officials condemned the jail without warning and said it’s the city’s job to maintain the jail and repair it.
The court has previously ruled it’s up to the city to decide what happens to the city jail.
Attorneys for the sheriff want that decision overruled but attorneys for the city say there’s insufficient evidence to overcome the court's prior decision.