A newly created council announced by Gov. Abigail Spanberger will work toward change in the state prison system.
Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security Stanley Meador, and Virginia Department of Corrections Director Joseph Walters joined the governor at VADOC headquarters Tuesday for the announcement. Each will have a role on the Governor’s Community Partnership Council on Corrections.
Spanberger, who spoke along with Meador and Walters, touted her administration's work during the past six months to improve the safety of incarcerated people and staff at the state’s prison facilities.
She discussed accountability, professionalism and transparency, while also referencing a range of data during the event: numbers showing a decrease in “serious inmate-on-staff assaults,” lockdowns and overdoses. Use-of-force has also reportedly decreased since January compared to the previous year. But limited access to the data through the Freedom of Information Act makes that assertion difficult to confirm.
“This council, led by Director Walters and Secretary Meador, will create a permanent structured forum for dialogue and action on the issues that matter most — conditions of confinement, re-entry and reintegration, family engagement, staffing and public accountability,” Spanberger said to about 100 VADOC staffers and members of the press. “In the coming days, we will begin inviting a diverse group of stakeholders to participate in this council.”
Since taking office, the governor’s installed Meador, formerly the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Richmond Field Office, to lead the state’s public safety department. In that role, Meador oversees the corrections department and The Department of Criminal Justice Services — where new leadership was also selected.
At VADOC, Walters’ appointment followed decades of complaints by incarcerated people and advocates claiming that people in state custody are routinely mistreated and subjected to verbal abuse. In 2023, at least 6 people set themselves on fire to protest conditions at Red Onion State Prison, one of Virginia’s two maximum security facilities.
Spanberger’s Tuesday announcement also followed the state’s medical examiner office admitting it hasn’t fulfilled a 2024 statutory requirement to perform autopsies after all in-custody deaths at VADOC. Researchers and advocates have said not having full investigations completed following a carceral death limits data that can be used by the state to implement changes to limit future deaths.
Meador sounded an inclusive message toward the end of the news conference, again pointing toward the potential for additional input from people who’ve experienced incarceration and their families.
“The whole purpose in thinking about that council is, we're forming a team of diverse individuals who bring more added value into the conversation,” he said.
Fatimah Muwahhid is an abolitionist whose husband, Talib, is currently incarcerated at Buckingham Correctional Center. She’s optimistic after watching a stream of the announcement, but wondered about specifics.
“You can have a diverse group of people — that's fine,” she said. “But what, ultimately, do you want them to accomplish? That I did not hear.”
Disclosure: Independent reporter Dave Cantor is suing the Virginia Department of Corrections to gain access to documentation of the agency’s use of tasers at Red Onion State Prison.