Rappahannock Regional Jail, in five figures and four asks.
Every figure below is from the RRJA July 23, 2026 agenda packet, a public record of the Rappahannock Regional Jail Authority, retrieved August 22, 2026. The Authority marks these figures pending its annual audit; we publish them as unaudited and say so wherever they appear. Each links to the page that shows the working.
This page prints to one sheet. It carries no argument we have not shown our arithmetic for, and it is the page to forward.
Figures in the writing are rounded to two digits and marked ≈. The tables, the arithmetic we show our working for, and every source line are exact, and so is every CSV. Why.
The five figures
The budget rose 8.9 percent while the population fell
≈$58,000,000FY2027, approved January 22, 2026 — $4,700,000 above FY2026. Over the same period local prisoner days fell from 410,000 to 400,000, down 1.1 percent.
Cost per prisoner day, computed on the jail’s own figures
≈$120FY2026 appropriation $53,000,000 divided by 400,000 local prisoner days. Lay the FY2027 budget on the same population and it is $140 — $19.00 more per person per day. Computed by Uncage RRJ. Average cost is not marginal cost.
Taken from incarcerated people and their families
≈$2,300,000FY2026, across six revenue lines: telephone, phone-time purchase, commissary, food purchase commission, at-home video visitation, tablet commission. That is $5.60 for every day a person is held and 4.4 percent of the jail’s General Fund revenue. It does not appear in the headline summary the Board reads.
Grievances closed without investigation
63%1,200 of 1,900 filed in FY2026 were closed as not investigated. 28 appeals were filed all year; 0 were upheld and the overturn rate was 100 percent in every month. Every appeal anyone pursued was decided against the original outcome.
The region already supervises more people in the community than it locks up
≈1.7×June 2026: community corrections carried a total caseload of 1,900 people against an average daily population of 1,100 in the jail. The capacity to supervise at scale is not hypothetical here. It is already built and already paid for.
And the part that cuts the other way. The Jail’s FOIA officer answers fast: 17 of our 18 requests drew a first response at a median of three days, inside the statutory five. We print that because it is true, and because the findings on the FOIA docket are worth more with the concession on the page than without it.
Four things that can be moved, seconded and voted
- A cost model that separates fixed cost from marginal cost per prisoner day, delivered before the next appropriation vote rather than after it. Without it neither this Board nor the public can say what one fewer person in that building actually saves.
- Publish, in the next Board packet, which fund each of the six family-paid revenue lines is deposited into and what that fund may lawfully be spent on. It costs nothing and it is $2,300,000 a year of public money nobody can currently trace.
- Report quarterly the number of grievances returned without investigation, the stated reason for each category, and whether any supervisor reviewed the return. The jail already counts this; it simply does not report it.
- Require written disclosure to the Board of any interruption in contracted medical or behavioral health services, with dates and reason. The jail’s own statistics record zero substance abuse program participants in 4 months of FY2026.
Each is drawn from the Ten Theses and set out per body, with the figure that justifies it, on What we ask each body.
Where this can be said
Next sitting of the body that governs the jail: Thursday, October 22, 2026, 1:00 pm — Jail Roll Call Room, Rappahannock Regional Jail, 1745 Richmond Highway, Stafford
| The room | Next dates | Where | How to be heard |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rappahannock Regional Jail Authority BoardGoverns the jail. Approves its budget. |
|
Jail Roll Call Room, Rappahannock Regional Jail, 1745 Richmond Highway, StaffordEnter through the Main Lobby and check in with security staff. | Three minutes each, name and address required, one turn per person, thirty minutes for the whole comment period, and it must concern jail services or policy. Contact the board secretary before the meeting starts. |
| Stafford County Board of SupervisorsAppropriates Stafford's share of the jail's budget. |
|
Board Chambers, 1300 Courthouse Road, Stafford | Three minutes each, whether you speak for yourself or a group. Speaker cards are taken in the order the clerk receives them. Written comment can be filed online instead. |
| Spotsylvania County Board of SupervisorsAppropriates Spotsylvania's share of the jail's budget. |
|
Holbert Building, 9104 Courthouse Road, Spotsylvania | Three minutes each, five if you speak for an organisation. The microphone is switched off at time. You may not yield your time and you may not speak twice. |
| Fredericksburg City CouncilAppropriates Fredericksburg's share of the jail's budget. |
|
Council Chambers, City Hall, 715 Princess Anne Street, Fredericksburg (lower level, entrance off Hanover Street) | Five minutes each. Email the Clerk of Council to sign up. Give your name, address and zip code. A letter sent by 1:30 pm on the day is read aloud instead, for three minutes. |
| King George County Board of SupervisorsAppropriates King George's share of the jail's budget. |
|
Board room, Revercomb Administration Building, 10459 Courthouse Drive, King George | Check the agenda for the public-comment item. The county asks for a day's notice if you need an interpreter or hearing assistance. |
Read from each body’s own published calendar on September 8, 2026, looking ahead to March 27, 2027. Public bodies move meetings. Check the linked calendar before you drive; if a date has changed and this page has not, tell us.
How to check us
Every figure on this site carries its value, unit, period, document, page, retrieval date and a link to the file. A figure missing any of those does not publish. Where published values conflict we publish all of them rather than choosing one quietly.
- The Authority’s own site, where the packet behind nearly every figure here came from
- Twelve CSVs and the page-level packet index, downloadable
- The corrections log
- What we asked for, what came back, and what has not
We cannot accept donations at this time. There is no ask for money on this site and no membership. What we ask for is a vote, a document, or a sentence in the minutes.