A portion of the 90 Virgin Islanders being held in federal prisons on the mainland are scheduled to return to St. Croix’s Golden Grove Prison this month, according to V.I. Attorney General Iver Stridiron.
Stridiron said that on Friday the first unit of the expanded Golden Grove facility was turned over to the Bureau of Corrections. That will allow 10 of the 90 prisoners to be returned. The remainder of the prisoners will be sent back between June and November, he said.
Because of deteriorating conditions and overcrowding in the early 1990s, the V.I. government was forced to send a number of high-risk convicts to Federal Bureau of Prisons facilities on the mainland until the Golden Grove Prison was expanded. Originally, the prisoners were supposed to be gone only six months.
The ongoing monthly payments for housing the prisoners off-island is approximately $200,000 a month. That cost has resulted in a nearly $13-million debt to the federal government. Because of a lack of payment on the territory’s part, the debt was turned over to the U.S. Treasury Department for collection earlier this year.
To pay down the debt, Treasury diverted $1.6 million in federal highway funds that were headed to the territory. According to the Turnbull administration, the territory has paid $3.5 million toward its debt in the last 15 months. Those payments, along with the $1.6 million already diverted by Treasury, have been credited to the V.I. government.
Meanwhile, Stridiron told WSTX radio that a number of BOC corrections officers have retired recently, creating a staffing shortfall. With the return of hard-core convicts in the wings, Stridiron said he will make a supplemental budget request from the Legislature to allow for new hiring.
While 15 new guards have been hired, Stridiron said 20 to 30 more are needed.
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