Michele Deitch, a University of Texas at Austin professor who runs the Prison and Jail Innovation Lab, said the routine inspections are part of the ombudsman’s office establishing regular oversight of the corrections system.
“The job of the ombudsman — or any other kind of oversight body — is to bring attention to those issues, so that no one can claim ignorance about them. So that the public is informed, so that there's analysis, so that there's an evidence-based set of best practices that inform the recommendations,” she said while discussing the reports.
Recommendations across the system largely focused on medical services being provided to incarcerated people and the regular cleaning of facilities.
Deitch added that the ombudsman’s office overseeing Virginia prisons is still new, it’s still developing its approach and that staff is relatively small.