BTB Knowledge
ACCOUNTABILITY
DOC OMBUDSMAN
Andrea Sapone (andrea.sapone@osig.virginia.gov)
OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE
Juanita Shanks – Failsafe ERA
Amanda Howie – Associate Commonwealth Attorney & father is incarcerated with life sentence
Dr. Shannae Anderson – from Southern California, Professor @ LU, clinical psychologist
Tawana Simons – Formerly incarcerated for a non-violent drug crime and eventually pardoned
Senator Danny Diggs – formerly a sheriff, jail administrator, serves on regional jail board
Senator David Marsden – 2000-2002 Dept of Juvenile Justice, formerly superintendent of Fairfax Juvenile Justice, parole officer
Delegate Jonathan “Jed” Arnold – lives in southwest Virginia, general practice lawyer & institutional attorney
Delegate Karen Keys-Gamarra
D’Archie Lewis – Formerly incarcerated, cPRS and pardoned
The Ombudsman has the ability to issue a subpoena. She will review all complaints and reserves the right to decline investigating the claim but must notify the complainant. The Incarcerated individual must follow the VADOC grievance process prior to contacting the Ombudsman. OSIG has a state hotline and will be adding an incarcerated individual complaint line. There will be 1 random unannounced inspection of a different facility every year. Introductory inspections for all facilities will be done by July 1st 2026.
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LEGISLATIVE SESSION
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Session has officially come to a close besides some final amendments.
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We will be educating and building rapport with the General Assembly throughout 2025 seeking support for the following proposed bills: Youthful Offender, Parole Board Appeals Panel and Video Visitation.
PASSED BILLS
HB1553, HB1661, HB1692, HB1968, HB2222 and SB770
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FACILITY REFORM
Each year we will concentrate on the conditions, conduct, processes, food and medical of one of our state facilities. Due to the excessive issues, we will be focusing on Red Onion for 2025. We need inside citizens, loved ones, advocates, organizations and returning citizens to EMAIL ALL FACTUAL ISSUES INCLUDING DATE, PERSONS INVOLVED (optional), DETAILS and STEPS TAKEN TOWARDS RESOLUTION TO BENDINGTHEBARS@GMAIL.COM.
PROGRAMS
We will be composing and implementing three programs throughout 2025, Re-entry, Start Thinking Outside Prison (STOP) and Parole Prep. We are EXCITED to announce we completed our first Parole Prep class at Lawrenceville Facility and it was a SUCCESS.
COMMUNITY OUTREACH
**Behind the Walls: A Look Inside Maximum Security Facilities - July 13th
**Packs From the Pen - Aug 10th
**Free Cutz N Stylz - Aug 16th
**A Taste of Halloween - Oct 31st
**The Longest Table - Nov 22nd
**Santa vs Grinch - Dec 20th
**Beyond the Bars Clothing Pantry - Coming soon
**Born To Ball - Coming soon
**Bunk to Bed Re-entry Homes - Coming soon
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