WASHINGTON (Map, News) - The rampant overcrowding at the Prince William County jail system is growing so severe that inmates awaiting trial are being sent to other facilities across the state because there is no room for them in Manassas.

For years, only convicts were sent to seven other Virginia jails to alleviate overcrowding, because pretrial inmates often must make repeated trips to the county courthouse in Manassas.

But the combination of population growth and a new illegal-immigration policy requiring the jail to keep inmates without legal U.S. residency until they can be turned over to federal authorities for deportation has forced the distribution of inmates to greatly expand in the last year.

The average daily jail population in February was 1,059, up from 935 in June. More than 300 inmates are being held in other jails, some that are more than a four-hour drive from Manassas. The practice is costing the county $3 million a year, Col. Peter Meletis, Superintendent at the Adult Detention Center in Manassas, told the Board of County Supervisors this month.

The sharp increase in inmates housed elsewhere has posed serious challenges to the safety, cost and reliability of the corrections system, Meletis said.

Every trip off the jail property carries the threat of an accident or a prisoner escape attempt, he said. Transporting inmates hundreds of miles has resulted in unexpected increases in fuel and overtime costs.

There is also the constant concern that one day, any of the jails could decide it won’t take Prince William County’s inmates anymore.

“One thing we constantly think about is the uncertainty of available bed space,” Meletis said.

With pretrial inmates housed hours away, defense attorneys may have to wait for face-to-face meetings with their clients.

“Keeping track of our clients, oh my gosh, we never know where they are,” said Anne Godson, a Manassas criminal-defense lawyer. “Every major document goes to the client. Used to be I just mailed them to the Adult Detention Center, but now it pops back.”

Jail leaders have “bent over backwards” to manage a difficult situation, she said. While the two most heavily used extra jails are in Winchester and Bowling Green, officers occasionally must drive additional hours to find empty beds, officials said.

Board of County Supervisors Chairman Corey Stewart and other supervisors said they expect the problems to diminish significantly when a major expansion project is completed in the fall and adds 200 beds to the Manassas jail.

However, county officials expect that expansion to be filled to capacity immediately, and new jail projections show inmate population will continue to climb to 1,500 by 2015.

dgenz@dcexaminer.com