State legislators and officials met with the Craigsville community on Thursday afternoon to discuss the closing of the Augusta Correctional Center. WMRA's Randi B. Hagi reports.
[sound of attendees talking]
More than 60 people filled the small Craigsville Town Hall on Thursday to ask questions and voice their concerns over the prison's closing, which is scheduled for the end of June. With a current staff of 218, it's a major employer in this part of Augusta County. The Virginia Department of Corrections announced on Dec. 15 that it would close the facility along with three others in the state.
Two VDOC representatives were among the state leaders fielding questions from aggrieved employees and their families. Foremost among them was how the reassignment process would work, especially since most of the alternative positions offered are at facilities more than 60 miles away. Multiple people, including one employee's wife, said they felt lied to by the agency earlier last year, when inmates were being moved out but the company line was, "we're not closing."
ATTENDEE: That's why you're getting this reaction. We don't trust you.
Department records show that the prison consistently incarcerated more than 1,000 people in recent years, but from June to November, that figure fell below 500.
Chief of Corrections Operations David Robinson said the inmate population had been decreased because there weren't enough staff at Augusta to maintain safety, and those staffing problems later contributed to the decision to close the prison.
Another issue raised by the townspeople was how Craigsville would afford the nearly $7,000 a month in loan payments the prison had been paying towards the local wastewater treatment plant. The prison and town had gone in together on its construction, but the town will be left holding the bag.
Josh Humphries, deputy secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security, told attendees that Gov. Glenn Youngkin had included funding for the plant in his drafted budget.
