A push by Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli to allow sexually violent predators awaiting civil commitment reviews to be temporarily housed with the general prison population has bitten the dust.
His original proposal under House Bill 1689 was amended and approved by the House, and is now awaiting Senate committee action. The watered-down version eliminates the option of transporting and housing sex offenders with other inmates, giving them the option to have a mental health review performed via video conference instead of in person.
“If our state wants to implement civil commitment, it must remain as treatment, not as incarceration, an extension of their sentence,” said said Mary Devoy, executive director of the Reform Sex Offender Laws of Virginia. “Housing them in local jails, mixing them in with other inmates is 100-percent punishment.”
A spokesman for Cuccinelli said the state law is simple.
“Virginia currently bans the practice of holding sex offenders who have completed their treatment with the rest of the general prison population,” said Brian Gottstein, director of communications for the attorney general. “Virginia code 37.2-909 stipulates that the Department of Behavioral Health and Development Services (DBHDS) must at all times for treatment keep sexually violent predators (SVP) separate from sight and sound of prisoners.”
Delegate David Albo, R-Fairfax, said the offenders are not to be treated like prisoners.
“They are not criminals anymore, they are mental health patients,” Albo said. “The AG wants to do this because it’s convenient and cost effective, but if we put them in jail it becomes a punishment, not treatment.”
Gottstein said practicality has to be taken into consideration.
“No sheriff has the ability to house SVPs totally from sight and sound of other inmates,” he said. “For budgetary and staffing reasons, sheriffs must frequently transport multiple persons at one time.”
According to Assistant Attorney General Pamela Sargent, housing sex offenders with the general population has been done in the state for some time.
