In the month of June, 2015 the Commonwealth of Virginia supported 60 local and regional jails and jail farms. Of this number there are 24 county jails, 12 city jails, 23 regional jails and 1 jail farm. City and county jails are operated under the authority of the sheriff in that locality. Jail farms are operated under the authority of the locality they serve by an appointed superintendent. Regional jails are operated under the authority of a regional jail board or authority consisting of at least the sheriff and one other representative from each participating jurisdiction.

A survey of mental illness in Virginia jails was developed by DBHDS and staff of the Senate Finance Committee and Compensation Board. The Compensation Board posted the mental health survey on its website in July 2015 for completion by local and regional jails. With the support of the Virginia Sheriffs’ Association and the Virginia Association of Regional Jails, the Compensation Board received surveys from 58 out of 60 local and regional jails, excluding the Danville City Jail Farm and Alleghany County Jail. The data in this report is as reported to the Compensation Board by the local and regional jails in their 2015 mental health survey, submitted as of July 22, 2015.

The goal of the survey was to provide information to the Virginia General Assembly, the Compensation Board and the DBHDS regarding jail resource needs for appropriately managing inmates with mental illness. Survey questions directed jail personnel to report data as reflected for the month of June 2015, with the exception of treatment expenditures which were reported for the entire fiscal year (July 1, 2014 – June 30, 2015). In prior years jails reported data for the month of July, with the exception of the first report, published in 2008, which requested that jails report data for specific days in October. This is the first year in which the reporting month is June. The change in reporting month was to give staff additional time for analysis as the scope of data in the report continues to broaden. The data provided in this report is reflective only of local and state responsible inmates housed in local and regional jails and does not include federal inmates or contract inmates from other states.