As Martinsville officials grapple with a projected $4 million budget deficit, some residents and local leaders have raised the possibility of sharing or consolidating certain services with Henry County. While some residents have suggested consolidation, officials said most discussions have focused on sharing services or facilities rather than merging departments. No formal consolidation plans have been approved.
Sheriffs’ offices/inmate housing
Martinsville Sheriff Steve Draper said the two sheriffs’ offices cannot be consolidated because under Virginia law, counties and cities are required to elect constitutional officers, including a sheriff, treasurer and commonwealth’s attorney.
However, Draper said the Henry County Adult Detention Center and the Martinsville City Jail could be consolidated “if forced to.”
“That’s a big expense anyway. As a matter of fact, we’ve been talking about this for several years with the county, back before Wayne Davis was sheriff. We talked with Lane Perry about it. We’re trying to work it out to where we could do something like that if it’s forced to be done,” he said.
Regarding comments made by residents and some council members during budget discussions about the possibility of consolidating services, Draper said he thinks some are “saying stuff they don’t understand.”
If consolidation were to move forward, Draper said it would require extensive budget discussions between the city and county.
“It’s not going to be free by no means. It’s going to cost. I think we’ve got to wait and see exactly what that’s going to cost,” he said.
Draper said 125 inmates per day are housed in Martinsville’s jail facilities, “and that includes the ones the county is already holding for us. The county is already holding some for us — at a cost” that is less than other jail facilities would charge.
Currently, there are 15 city inmates housed in the county at a cost of $35 per inmate per day, Draper said, adding that “we work good together.”
Draper said he is also concerned about what consolidation could mean for his employees.
“We either find something else for them to do — and we’ve got some mighty young and very dedicated employees in the city. My concern is, what are they going to do? Because some of them are not going to want to go to the county … probably, I don’t know. But every time this thing comes up in the paper my employees” get worried about needing to look “for another job.”
Draper said any decisions regarding consolidation are up to the city and county governments.
Henry County Sheriff Wayne Davis said that while Draper would have to initiate those conversations, he is open to discussions about absorbing Martinsville’s inmate population.
“I am open to it, but ultimately that decision lies on Sheriff Draper and city council for any financial side of that agreement. Since Sheriff Draper is an independent constitutional officer, that decision would be his decision,” Davis said.
“On the financial side of the component, city council would have to be in agreement, but we are open to discussions,” Davis said. However, “this has to be profitable to Henry County. It would come at a substantial upfront cost to the city and recurring annual costs.
“A rough, preliminary estimate would be more than $2 million per year,” Davis said, “and that’s just the fee to house the inmates. The city would still have to fund medical costs” for its inmates.
The current $35 per day per inmate fee charged to the city “is for a small, limited number of inmates,” Davis said.
But when considering consolidating city and county facilities, “you’re looking at taking over an entire correctional facility,” he said, adding that it would place additional strain on correctional officers and increase overall costs.
The Henry County Adult Detention Center has the capacity to house 400 inmates. The average daily population during the past 12 months has been approximately 230 inmates, Davis said.
Consolidating inmate populations would not jeopardize any county employees assigned to jail operations, he added.
“I really don’t want to speculate on what would happen with the employees from the City of Martinsville. However, I can say that we do maintain a fair number of vacancies at the sheriff’s office, and should any of their employees that desire to apply with us, we would certainly love to have their applications,” Davis said.
Animal shelter
Following a fire at the Martinsville Animal Shelter earlier this year, a joint animal shelter was proposed for the city and county. Draper said he believes that effort is the most likely consolidation project to move forward.
“It’s up for the city and county governments to get together and say, ‘OK, what’s this going to cost?’ Because the county’s not going to do it for free. You don’t take those responsibilities on at no additional cost,” Draper said.
Davis also believes consolidating animal shelter operations is possible.
“The reason being is obviously the City of Martinsville has no animal shelter at this time. We have a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with them, and are currently assisting them with animal housing and placement in the Henry County Animal Shelter,” he said.
Before the MOU was signed, the county animal shelter had already been identified as outdated and in need of major upgrades, Davis said.
“So, we already began exploring the possibility of constructing a new animal shelter. With that being said, should the City of Martinsville and Henry County administration decide to finalize a plan to build a joint animal shelter, I do believe it could save both taxpayers of Henry County and the taxpayers of the City of Martinsville money,” Davis said.
Operationally, the county Animal Services Unit falls under the authority of the sheriff’s office.
“The sheriff’s office controls and operates the animal shelter. Should we construct a new animal shelter, that animal shelter will entirely fall under the control of the sheriff’s office with an agreement to provide space for the Martinsville City Animal Control and their animals,” Davis said.
Education/schools
Martinsville School Board Chair Yvonne Givens said the school board has not had in-depth discussions regarding school consolidation.
“I’m hesitant to speculate on something of that magnitude before those conversations take place,” she said.
Givens said the school board is always willing to discuss ideas that could affect the future of Martinsville schools in partnership with city council.
“Any proposal as significant as school consolidation would require time for careful, thorough planning and extensive communication with staff, students, families, and the broader community. To be successful, those discussions would need to begin well in advance of any potential implementation,” Givens said.
While consolidating services between the two school systems is possible, Henry County School Board Chairman Teddy Martin of the Reed Creek District said support would depend on the details.
“I would think the best means by which those who have certain goals for the city schools would be to operate by contract,” he said. “As in, they would have an agreement with county schools as to what schools to keep open, how to fund them, etcetera. They would provide a level of funding for a level of service.”
For example, Martin said if Martinsville wanted to maintain certain class-size limits, it would need to provide the funding to do so.
“Because otherwise, I can’t have an equitable distribution where the county schools have one set of class sizes and the city schools have another set of class sizes. I can’t operate the schools differently unless there’s literally a contract and various reasons and mechanisms,” he said.
Martin said he does not believe there is as large a gap in student population between the city and county at the elementary and middle school levels.
“To my knowledge, I don’t have the capacity at my middle or elementary schools as easily to absorb that either,” he said.
Martin said he would not support closing a county school, particularly one of its two high schools, as part of a consolidation effort.
“I can’t keep a high school that has 400 kids open when I have two schools at nearly 1,200 each. I don’t think I could keep three high schools open, particularly when there’s that substantial of a gap,” he said.
Martin added that if consolidation talks moved forward, the most likely outcome would be the closure of Martinsville High School.
