PORTSMOUTH, Va. — Portsmouth city officials are trying to figure out what to do with juvenile offenders. They're now considering if they can be temporarily housed in the basement of the city's jail.
Last week, Chief Judge Diane Griffin of the Portsmouth Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court urged city council members to act with urgency.
"Because we, as judges, are trying to let as many kids out as we can," Griffin told Portsmouth council members. "Some of these kids are dangerous. Something's going to happen."
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She explains there's nowhere close for kids who are accused of crimes in Portsmouth to be detained.
"The practical and logistical problems that this has created are extraordinary," said Griffin. "This past weekend four youngsters were arrested on firearms charges which is mandatory detention, they had to be transported by police to all the way to Bristol."
Bristol is roughly an eight-hour drive from Portsmouth. There are other kids are spread across Virginia too. Chief Judge Griffin said, at the moment, Williamsburg is the closest detention facility accepting Portsmouth kids, but they only have about seven beds available.
"It has created an enormous hardship for our agency as well as the courts," explained Michael Moore, Portsmouth Sheriff. "The problem is when we dedicate that many people manpower-wise to transport inside and outside the state then we fall short for court security . . . It's a dangerous, dangerous situation."
"The deputies have to move these kids, the families can't get to these kids, their lawyers can't get to these kids," added Griffin.
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"It's a legal issue," said De'Andre Barnes, Portsmouth councilman. "You want to make sure everybody gets justice the best way possible. If you're not able to talk to your lawyer, be in the presence of your lawyer, be in a presence of family, that can put a strain on a lot of things and you may not get the best justice in your particular case."
The issue arose when last year Chesapeake reduced beds, decided to repurpose its detention center, and alerted Portsmouth it could no longer take in Portsmouth kids. Up to that point Portsmouth, which doesn't have a licensed, functional detention center of its own, had been using Chesapeake's detention center to house pretrial juveniles although Chesapeake is not a regional facility.
"To be honest with you, it's our fault, it's city council's for years and years fault, because we should have never been relying on another city to do that," said Barnes. "They could have pulled the plug at any time, they just happened to now."
The issue got worse, according to Portsmouth officials, when the city saw an increase in kids committing serious crimes that required detention and the guidelines for mandatory detention changed. At the Portsmouth Work Session last week, City Manager Mimi Terry noted this is not the first time City Council is hearing about the issue.
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Officials said they've exhausted most local resources and now have to send kids farther and farther out of the area. Griffin said roughly 18 kids each month are in need of secure detention. This method of detention is costing Portsmouth on average $100,000 a month.
Last November, it hit a high of $135,000.
The city's now looking to fix up the city jail's basement as a temporary solution. It has had issues with flooding in the past.
"I'm not sure we'll be able to put them there, but I'm open to looking at it," said Barnes. "But for me I don't want anyone coming up to me about their child being in a basement and it wasn't sanitary for them or the best place for them to be."
Barnes and several council members said they'd like to take a look at the basement before determining the best course of action.
City officials said they're also working on locating a building that can become a more permanent solution. That permanent solution would have to meet certain juvenile detention facility standards.
Portsmouth officials haven't made any final decisions.
