This week both Charlottesville City Council and the Albemarle Board of Supervisors were expected to take another step toward financing for a renovation of the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail.
Vice Mayor Brian Pinkston had an announcement at the beginning of the June 2, 2025 City Council meeting.
“In an open bid opening that was open to members of the public on Friday afternoon, the bids came in,” Pinkston said. “The lowest bid that was put forward exceeded the budget and for that reason that project is in the process of figuring out a path forward.”
Pinkston said the board that governs the Albemarle Charlottesville Regional Jail will take up the matter.
“Tonight that item has been removed from the list,” Pinkston said.
There are five bids in all, according to the web page on the project renovation.
The item was also removed from the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors meeting for Wednesday. Materials are here.
A group called the People’s Coalition has organized a campaign to limit the size of the renovation efforts. Many were on hand at Council’s meeting to advance their opposition including organizer Harold Foley of the Legal Aid Justice Center.
“I know that things was pulled, but as an organizer, we can’t put things back in the tube,” Foley said.
Foley thanked those who were on hand to ask Council to ask for further reductions in the scope of the renovation. One of them is Kate Fraleigh.
“The People’s Coalition has always supported renovating the jail, have not supported the final design, the big, beautiful jail,” said Kate Fraleigh who said she was with the People’s Coalition. “And that’s probably one of the reasons why they’re over budget.”
Several other speakers called for more efforts to keep people out of jail, including sports programs for youth and more funding for mental health programs. Albemarle, Charlottesville and Nelson County are all contributing a portion of the capital funds for the renovation based on proportional use.
“These funds should be used instead for restorative justice programs, rehabilitation programs, and reentry programs to support community members and reduce the dependence on the jail in the first place,” said Elizabeth Stark.
The next meeting of the ACRJ Board is on June 12, 2025. For more on the story, take a look at this article on Charlottesville Tomorrow.
Before you go: This story about transportation planning was originally sent out in the June 3, 2025 edition of Charlottesville Community Engagement. Four days passed before the information was posted here. If you’d like to help support it financially, this page contains the possible ways.
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