Richmond's Chief Public Defender says the city jail should ease its COVID rules

RICHMOND, Va. -- More than four years after COVID 19 prompted restrictions at the Richmond City Justice Center, the public defender's office says the jail is still operating under pandemic era conditions meaning those incarcerated have limited access to their families and lawyers.

Richmond's Chief Public Defender Tracy Paner said her attorneys, who are appointed by the court to represent people accused of crimes who cannot afford a lawyer, are having issues accessing their clients at the city jail.

"This has been a consistent problem at the jail," Paner told CBS 6.

For starters, they usually can only meet with their clients through a plexiglass divider.

“The first thing I do for every client is introduce myself and shake their hand. It’s a sign of respect. I can’t do that with my clients," Paner said.

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Paner said COVID restrictions were put in place in 2020, which her attorneys understood at the time. Four years later, access still has not expanded.

Paner said out of the jail's 14 professional visitation rooms, only four to five are operational at a time, they do not allow for in-person contact, and the phones meant for communicating don't work.

Due to the limited availability, Paner said attorneys are spending more than an hour on average waiting to speak to clients.

“We have multiple people to see almost every time we go to the jail. This is kind of time is just taking away from our ability to represent our clients," Paner said.

Paner said the current setup further diminishes the ability to share important documents and digital evidence with clients.

"I have to be able to review these videos with my client so that they can understand and appreciate the strength or lack of evidence that the Commonwealth may have so that we can prepare to go to trial. Doing that through a plexiglass window is really difficult," Paner said.

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Additionally, she said none of the rooms with video visitation capability are operational.

And it's not just professional visits they're concerned about. She said the jail also suspended free public video visitation in 2020, restricting inmates from keeping in contact with family members, which Paner said is necessary to improve outcomes for inmates.

"The fact that the only video access clients’ families have is through GTL (a telecommunications company) that they pay for, astronomical prices, precludes them from being able to use it. My clients are the poorest of the poor," Paner said.

Paner said she brought these concerns to Richmond Sheriff Antionette Irving back in March, but since then, there's been little to no improvements despite having multiple informal meetings with jail leadership.

So, in early June, Paner sent a letter to Sheriff Irving detailing the perceived lack of progress to addressing ongoing issues.

She requested a return to pre-pandemic visitation practices, more staffing to support visitation, a commitment to lowering wait times, repairs to broken equipment, and a reopening of the lobby to the public.

“That letter was sent more as a last resort," Paner said.

Paner asked for a response to her requests by June 25, but as of July 23, she said she had only received an acknowledgement of receipt from Sheriff Irving.

CBS 6 reached out to Sheriff Irving requesting an interview. A spokesperson emailed a statement saying the office was unaware of any recent concerns regarding access to clients.

"Attorneys have full access to their clients. They may visit whenever they so choose with respects to the hours. There have been no recent concerns brought to our attention. If there were any previous concerns, they have been reviewed," Major Stacey Bagby said.

She continued, "Inmate visitation is in line with procedures and safety of inmates and staff. Attorneys are allowed to visit during business hours, weekends, holidays, and evenings until lockdown unless there is an emergency in which permits otherwise."

Bagby said attorney visitation did not change after COVID.

However, Paner's letter stated when her office requested a "return to in-person visitation," they were "advised that this would not be possible due to continuing COVID 19 concerns."

Regarding broken equipment and phones, Bagby requested patience for replacement items to be ordered and arrive.

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