The Federal Bureau of Prisons still houses 40 inmates yet to be transferred to the U.S. Virgin Islands, and until the territory has taken custody of them, there will be no decision on whether the federal government will forgive a multimillion dollar debt.
The territory has requested forgiveness of the remaining balance of a $10 million bill, racked up over the 11 years since 90 inmates were transferred to federal facilities on the mainland from St. Croix's Golden Grove prison following extensive hurricane damage.
The transfers initially were to be temporary, not more than six months. Unable to pay the federal government for housing the inmates, the Virgin Islands government has appealed for forgiveness of the debt.
U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno will decide once the territory has reclaimed all inmates. That is expected to happen by the end of the year, now that the Golden Grove prison has been refurbished and expanded.
V.I. Attorney General Iver Stridiron is negotiating with corrections officials in Virginia and said he hopes to produce a contract under which the more dangerous of the territory's prisoners can be housed in facilities there. Stridiron said Thursday the cost per inmate would be roughly the same as housing them here, about $65 per day. The Justice Department is reviewing contracts between Virginia and other state governments, as well as the federal government, which govern the housing of another jurisdiction's prisoners for a fee.
It took a near-crisis earlier this year to force the prisoner issue to the foreground. The U.S. Treasury Department had begun withholding federal funds bound for the territory until the Bureau of Prisons was paid. Those monies were released when the territory made an installment.
