LEGAL ACCESS AND CONDITIONS OF CONFINEMENT FOR
INS DETAINEES IN VIRGINIA COUNTY JAILS
PAMUNKEY REGIONAL JAIL
P.O. Box 485
Hanover, VA 23069
I. ACCESS TO LEGAL MATERIALS
The facility was visited on July 11, 2001. There was no designated room for the law
library at Pamunkey Regional Jail. 1 The legal materials were in a section of the regular library,
which appeared to be a converted storage room. The room was relatively small, albeit reasonably
isolated from noisy areas. There were no computers, typewriters or printers available for inmate or
detainee use in the library. Although a list of the immigration materials in the INS Detention
Standards was not posted in the library, the officer who gave the tour said that the materials had
been received and were located in the library. As for access to these materials, detainees are
afforded only one hour of library time per week. 2

11. ACCESS TO TELEPHONES
Detainees in this facility appeared frustrated by their inability to make phone calls from
the housing units without frequent interruptions. Their calls were sporadically cut off and phone
service was disconnected for days at a time due to disciplinary infractions, mostly caused by U.S.
citizen inmates. Most recently, the detainees lost service for five days due to the actions of a
criminal inmate in their pod. Furthermore, free calls to the Immigration Court, consulates, and

1

According to the INS Detention Standard entitled “Access to Legal Material”, “The facility shall provide
a law library in a designated room with sufficient space to facilitate detainees’ legal research and writing.”
2
According to the INS Detention Standard entitled “Access to Legal Material”, “Each detainee shall be
permitted to use the law library for a minimum of five (5) hours per week.”

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pro bono legal service providers have been especially difficult. 3 Several requests for calls have to be
made and responses frequently take up to one month.
III. VISITATION
There were no particular problems or concerns with general visitation, except that there
are no scheduled hours on the weekend. 4 Non-legal visits are allowed Monday through Friday for
six hours per day. As with Arlington, detainees in administrative or disciplinary segregation are not
allowed visits from family or friends. One detainee said that he has not had visits from his family
because the facility is too far for his family to travel for such a short visit.
As for legal visitation, we discovered that detainees are being strip-searched after all
contact visits, including those with attorneys. This type of blanket policy that prohibits contact
visits with attorneys is of considerable concern because it interferes with access to counsel. 5
IV. RECREATION ISSUES
Despite the liberal recreation schedule, which allows seven and a half hours of recreation
per day, the detainees at Pamunkey expressed that the jail is understaffed and that their recreation
time is often cut short. Furthermore, detainees often find themselves in lockdown due to a
disciplinary infraction by one of the inmates in their pod and lose much of their recreation time.

3

According to the INS Detention Standard entitled “Telephone Access”, “Even if telephone service is
generally limited to collect calls, the facility shall permit the detainee to make direct calls: (1) to the local
immigration court and the Board of Immigration Appeals; (2) to the federal and state courts where the
detainee is or may become involved in a legal proceeding; (3) to consular officials; (4) to legal service
providers in pursuit of legal representation or to engage in consultation concerning his/her expedited
removal case…”
4
According to the INS Detention Standard entitled “Visitation”, “The facility shall establish a visiting
schedule based on detainee population and the demand for visits. Visits shall be permitted during set hours
on Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays.”
5

According to the INS Detention Standard entitled “Visitation”, “if standard operating procedures require
strip searches after every contact visit with a legal representative, the facility must provide an option for
non-contact visits with legal representatives in an environment that allows confidentiality.”

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V. MEDICAL ISSUES
As compared with other facilities, the mental health services at Pamunkey appear
to be lacking. Social workers from the Hanover Community Service Board come in
twice a week and a psychologist comes in twice a month. There are no full-time or parttime counselors on staff.
VI. RELIGIOUS ISSUES 6
The lack of non-Christian worship is of notable concern. There are religious services
available six days a week; however, they are limited to Christian services. Religious counseling is
available by request, but the visits are non-contact.
VII. OTHER CONDITIONS ISSUES
Of particular concern at Pamunkey is the policy for determining whether a detainee is
indigent. Detainees who do not have money in their accounts are subject to a month waiting
period before they are issued an indigent package. This is a relatively long wait compared with the
other facilities. Furthermore, the detainees complained that the hygiene products issued in the
indigent package would not last the month. For example, the package included only two hotel-size
bars of soap.

6

According to the INS Detention Standard entitled “Religious Practices”, “Detainees of different religious
beliefs will be provided reasonable and equitable opportunities to participate in the practices of their
respective faiths. These opportunities will exist for all equally, regardless fo the number of practitioners of
a given religion, whether their religion is ‘mainstream,’ whether the religion is ‘Western’ or ‘Eastern,’ or
other such factors.” (Section 28.I).

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