Following hearings last week concerning the Bureau of Corrections, Sen. Gregory Bennerson is proposing that the prison system be taken out of the hands of the V.I. Department of Justice.
Last Wednesday, Bennerson, chairman of the Senate Government Operations Committee, held public hearings with comments from V.I. Attorney General Iver Stridiron. As attorney general, Stridiron oversees the Bureau of Corrections, the largest unit under Justice.
During his comments, Stridiron said that managing day-to-day crises within Corrections takes up a large part of his time. He said his personal preference, one not conveyed to Gov. Charles W. Turnbull, however, is to have Corrections made into a separate entity.
"The department in and of itself is large enough to require full-time attention," said Stridiron last week.
On Tuesday, Bennerson also noted that as attorney general, Stridiron, or any sitting attorney general, is responsible for prosecuting and then incarcerating individuals. That scenario, said Bennerson, could create a conflict of interest.
"In order to correct that we need to separate," Bennerson said. "The Bureau of Corrections needs to have a separate, professional director that is cabinet-level."
To achieve that goal, Bennerson said he is preparing legislation and speaking with administration officials.
Prior to 1977, Corrections was administered by the Department of Public Safety as the Division of Corrections. In 1977, Corrections was moved to the Office of the Governor and became operational on January 1, 1978. In 1987, Corrections was placed under the administrative control of the Department of Justice as a result of then-Gov. Alexander Farrelly’s reorganization of the executive branch.
Turnbull’s recommended budget for Corrections for fiscal year 2001 is $14.9 million. The total Department of Justice general fund budget is $24.1 million. With federal funding for the Division of Paternity and Child Support, Justice’s total budget is $31.3 million.
As part of the Department of Justice, Bennerson said Corrections has "suffered." He said that Corrections has had approximately a dozen directors under three administrations.
"The stability of the Bureau of Corrections has suffered under the attorney general, not necessarily Stridiron," he said. "It’s been lost in a bureaucratic structure."
