"A group of regional inmates arguing that they are the state department of corrections' responsibility are filing what they hope will be a class-action lawsuit to force the state to transfer them to state prisons, or compensate them while they are at the jail.

The lawsuit, on behalf of 14 inmates sentenced between August 1999 and June 2001 to serve time in state prisons, contends that the state's failure to move them to a prison amounts to cruel and unusual punishment prohibited by the Constitution. It also alleges that the inmates are being denied their 14th Amendment right to equal protection.

"The plaintiffs seek to be relieved of the oppressive and abhorrent conditions of local confinement. They seek to require the defendant to transfer them to a state facility so that they may have improved conditions of confinement and access to the prisoner programs and opportunities authorized by state law," the federal lawsuit, which seeks financial compensation and transfer to state prisons, states.

As of July 17, 104 "state responsible" inmates were at the Albemarle-C harlottesville Regional Jail, the suit states. The jail has an official capacity of 209, or 329 including a new wing.

As of Friday evening, the jail housed 450 inmates.

The suit targets Ronald J. Angelone, director of the Department of Corrections, and the members of the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail Board Authority.

Mike Leininger, a spokesman for the department of corrections, declined to comment on the suit, which he said he had not seen. Mitchell E. Neuman, chairman of the jail board, could not be reached for comment Friday.

The suit contends that the inmates are suffering at the jail, with as little as 40.6 square feet per person and about 55-60 per inmates per toilet.

"Prisoners are required to launder their own clothing and underwear and hang dry same. Prisoners are required to endure hot summer days, without air conditioning or window ventilation. Prisoners have no choice but to eat their meals sitting on the floor attracting roaches and ants which have infested the gymnasium. Meals are invariably served cold. Skin rashes among prisoners in close proximity is widespread," the suit, filed by Charlottesville lawyers Steven D. Rosenfield, Edward M. Wayland and Benjamin Doherty, states.

It also alleges that the department of corrections profits by keeping its inmates in the local jail while it rents out prison space to other states.

"... For every state eligible prisoner VDOC houses at the jail and replaces with an inmate from out-of-state, VDOC realizes a revenue gain of $32 per day per prisoner or an annual windfall of more than $11,500," the suit states.

The jail board authority has expressed frustration in the past with overcrowding they attributed in part to the state-responsible inmates still at the jail. Charlottesville City Manager Gary O'Connell, a member of the jail board, even suggested in a June meeting that the jail could sue the state to take its prisoners.

O'Connell said Friday that he was not aware of the suit and could not comment on the details, but reiterated that the jail continues to struggle with the issue of state-responsible inmates.

A state corrections spokesman has responded to criticism surrounding the question in the past by emphasizing that just because there are beds available doesn't mean they are in the appropriate kind of prison for that criminal and his or her offense." (Adrienne Schwisow, The Daily Progress, Sept. 1, 2001).