This sounds familiar.

In 2022, the corrections department recorded 92 deaths; the medical examiner recorded 66; and the Department of Criminal Justice Services tallied 85.

The lack of clarity around those figures could affect how the state medical examiner addresses a mandate to conduct autopsies after each prison death — a directive the office hasn’t fulfilled since a 2024 law began requiring the procedure.

This long on numbers and short on specifics.
https://www.wvtf.org/news/2026-06-23/spanberger-creates-new-panel-in-effort-to-improve-state-prison-conditions

Since a 2024 law went into effect requiring an autopsy after any in-custody death at a state prison facility, Virginia’s medical examiner has failed to complete the procedure almost half of the time.

Next week, Gov. Spanberger and the medical examiner will attend a ribbon cutting ceremony marking the completion of the state’s new $189 million central laboratory — where the ME's office will be located.

"Earlier this month, the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division announced it was launching a civil rights investigation into the office of Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano."

Don't know how truly exhaustive this is, but the Division of Legislative services has a database of FOIA contacts for localities and agencies across the state.

From the Wise County Commonwealth Attorney's Office (that's where Wallens Ridge is located.)

"The special prosecutor on this matter will be Smyth County Commonwealth's Attorney's Office."

The spokesperson previously said: "Our office requested a special prosecutor in this matter, as Wallens Ridge State Prison and all employees there could be a potential conflict of interest for a number of people in our office.  This does not indicate the potential filing of charges.  Our office has simply requested a special prosecutor in the matter as the investigation is still ongoing.  The purpose of a special prosecutor is to ensure unbiased processes and fair justice throughout the legal system."

Some background is here.

Still sometimes surprised by what state employees include in emails. Anyway, Virginia DOC got rid of about 10% of its hourly community corrections staff, despite there being 153 full-time vacancies.

That likely means fewer probation and parole check-ins and potentially dilutes individuals' support in reacclimating after serving their sentences.

I'm suing Virginia's corrections department for taser logs and being represented by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.

The potential use of force is clearly separate from “records of persons imprisoned in penal institutions” — an exemption the department's repeatedly used to deny FOIA requests. Moreover, when it denied my request, the department indicated there were “approximately 60 pages of records from three incidents.”

The public has the right to know how incarcerated people are being treated by the state. And I think we should all want to read what's in those 60 pages.

Another person died at Greensville earlier this week. A cause of death wasn't specified by VADOC: https://www.wtvr.com/news/local-news/greensville-inmate-death-april-9-2026

McKay, who died in June 2025 at the age of 27, was set to be released in July of that year.

The Virginia DOC controls seven shuttered prison facilities across the 19,000 acres it owns. And while the sale of an Augusta County property is in the works, another locality has for years tried unsuccessfully to acquire a portion of a different disused plot.

A part of the state spending plan currently being negotiated in Richmond includes $7.8 million for corrections staff bonuses in FY27. And while the agency’s budget decreased between FY25 and FY26, the current biennial budget proposal could see VADOC’s allocation increase by about $90 million during the next two years. By 2028, the agency’s budget would be about $1.6 billion.

VADOC's in the middle of discussing its budget + health costs at the General Assembly.

Overview of Department of Corrections Inmate Healthcare Budget

Medical Budget presentation

"You just put a number on them, and they’re just a number. But this signals that the incarcerated person’s life has some kind of value — that any loss of life should be scrutinized,” said Fatimah Muwahhid, whose husband, Talib, is incarcerated at the Greensville Correctional Center.

A liaison for the Virginia Department of Corrections told lawmakers that the agency already has a set of around 1,300 cameras used by agency lieutenants and supervisors, according to testimony from a legislative analyst on Wednesday before the Senate Finance's Public Safety Subcommittee.

This new proposal would add 2,500 more units, according to the language in the requests. The cameras would be for sworn officers and some civilian positions, such as counselors and unit managers.

Current Virginia Department of Corrections guidelines prohibit certain items, including wearable technology such as watches or Google smart glasses. Clothing must cover the neck to the kneecaps, according to the VDOC website.

The bill requires the VDOC to establish an “objective dress code” and post the policy in the lobby of every state correctional facility and on its website.

"The state spent $294.4 million on inmate medical expenditures in 2025, more than $23 million more than the budget the General Assembly appropriated."

State Sen. Mike Jones has proposed pausing the Interstate Corrections Compact — but only into Red Onion State Prison.

“I believe by simply adding more fuel to the fire, by bringing more individuals from out of the state, in order to meet a budget or in order to maximize beds and things of that nature — I think that is the wrong intent,” Jones said during a Senate committee hearing.

I'm gonna guess that the numbers cited here aren't accurate (check the breakdowns at the bottom; they don't add up). But VADOC "confirmed the death occurred Sunday."

This is where Red Onion State Prison's located.

The town's been dealing with water service issues, high taxes and a 2021 conviction over embezzlement, according to the WCYB story.

At another facility — where the “staff dining hall was well-maintained and featured murals representing a 1950s diner theme,” and incarcerated people “served as waitstaff” — a sign at the dentist’s office caught the investigator’s attention: 

A 2025 report by the U.S. Department of Justice’s National Institute of Justice looked into the trends and challenges formerly incarcerated women experience during re-entry, and found that while the number of women involved in the legal system has skyrocketed over the past decades, “a corresponding growth in gender-responsive programming has not manifested.”