RICHMOND, Va. -- The state board that oversees local jails determined the Richmond City Justice Center needed to be placed under a compliance plan due to the number of inmate death investigations that identified issues with regulatory standards.
In the course of its review of recent jail deaths, the Board of Local and Regional Jails (BOLRJ) found that the Richmond City Jail consistently failed to adhere to the state standards that govern the supervision of inmates.
Under those standards, jail officers are required to conduct a minimum of two security inspections of inmate housing areas per hour, document all inspections and unusual incidents, and ensure there are no obstructions in bars or windows that would prevent staff from viewing inmates or the entire housing area.
The findings appeared to contradict what Richmond Sheriff Antionette Irving, who leads the jail, said in prior public statements about her jail's compliance with supervision protocols.
"We're able to do our checks twice an hour," Irving said during a press conference following an inmate death on January 11, 2023.
“We’re doing our twice-an-hour checks as we are responsible for throughout the regulations," Sheriff Irving again told CBS 6 in an interview on April 25, 2023.
Between March 2022 and March 2023, the Richmond Jail reported at least five inmate deaths.
Four of the reported deaths happened in five months.
At the time, Irving said her office was grappling with security challenges, deputy shortages, and drug issues.
Per standard, the BOLRJ opened investigations into each death.
All five remain open and in the adjudication stage, according to the board's executive director Geoff Garner.
Three of those inmate death investigations resulted in supervision violations, including the November 14, 2022 death of Nina Hill, the December 12, 2022 death of Vance Holloway, and the January 11, 2023 death of Steven Carey.
The Medical Examiner's Office confirmed the causes of death for Holloway and Carey were drug overdoses involving fentanyl.
CBS 6 spoke to family members of both inmates at the time who raised concerns about safety protocols inside the jail.
“I’m in total shock, because I believed he was safer in the jail," Carey's sister, Carla Wade, told CBS 6 in a previous interview. “Their first instinct is to administer Narcan, so they know there is a huge drug problem in there. How are they getting in there?”
“They're supposed to be safe," said Dedrick White, who said she was Holloway's soulmate. "That’s what the captain said, but ain't no way they're safe over there."
During its November 15, 2023 meeting, the board approved a compliance plan for the Richmond City Justice Center, outlining several actions for the jail to take over the next two years or longer.
To address violations, the jail is expected to:
- Provide the board with a corrective action plan detailing the underlying causes of violations and how the facility will address those concerns moving forward
- Implement an automated system to record and document security rounds within the next five months
- Have staff monitor and review security rounds daily and when inspections are missed, take immediate action to ensure inmates are safe and secure, fix any issues causing a gap in security rounds, and discipline officers who neglect their duties
- Conduct internal audits of the jail's efforts to come into compliance with state standards and present consistent updates to the BOLRJ
- Train officers on the consequences of forging public records
When asked why forgery was addressed in the plan, Garner told CBS 6 in an email, "The Board determined it was appropriate that personnel responsible for conducting these inspections (or rounds) be trained that the logs in which these inspections are documented are public records and that intentional entry of false information in the logs can have adverse administrative and/or disciplinary consequences."
Irving said she was unavailable for an interview Tuesday, but when asked whether deputies were forging public records, she said in an email, "inconsistencies were discovered when some deputies were in a pod and when their security rounds were recorded."
Irving added that she was in the process of meeting the board's expectations and requirements.
"[W]e determined that additional training on accuracy of record keeping, and consequences for inaccuracies, would reduce any future inconsistencies. In addition to this training, when we discover records on security rounds are inaccurate, we me[et] ou[r] necessary discipline based on our progressive disciplinary process. We are also in the process of installing an electronic system that will allow deputies to record their security rounds electronically and in real-time to further [e]nsure accurate record-keeping," Irving said.
Irving submitted her action plan to the BOLRJ on December 1. It has not yet been reviewed or accepted by the board, Garner said.
Irving's action plan did not include the underlying factors that contributed to the violations, as requested by the board. Irving also did not answer that part of CBS 6's inquiry in her written statement.
Her plan states that a captain will monitor to ensure security rounds are being conducted and that an automated security rounds system will be installed by July 2024.
The board did not officially determine either way whether the cited violations were or were not connected to the cause of inmate deaths, as the board abstained from exercising its statutory authority to declare a causal connection between the violations and deaths. Garner said in past reviews, he has never known the board to exercise this power.
Another recent inmate death was recorded on October 15, 2023, when the Richmond Sheriff's Office reported an inmate died at the jail. The office did not release any further information about that death.
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