The superintendent of the Hampton Roads Regional Jail is stepping down after a year on the job, citing personal reasons.
Ronaldo D. Myers, who was hired last March to head the jail as federal investigators conducted an investigation into an inmate’s death, says he is returning to South Carolina to be closer to family, according to a release sent out Wednesday.
Myers was HRRJ’s fourth superintendent hired in a seven-month span from October 2016 to March 2017, after former superintendent Col. David L. Simons retired during turmoil.
The jail has been the focus of heavy scrutiny in recent years, with inmate deaths, staffing issues, and a lawsuit from a former manager who claims her constitutional rights were violated when she was terminated.
Myers told 10 On Your Side back in January that he believes understaffing has contributed to many of the problems the facility faces.
“I don’t wanna say that because you have staffing you won’t have suicide, no, that is not the case,” he said. “What staffing does is it helps reduce the chances of opportunity.”
Lt. Colonel David Hackworth from the Chesapeake Sheriff’s Office has been selected to serve as the jail’s interim superintendent as the Hampton Roads Regional Jail Authority Board searches for Myers’ permanent replacement.
