Reflective Jail Tours: The Power of Proximity
- Tom Tom Foundation Staff
- 16 hours ago
- 7 min read
The Albemarle–Charlottesville Regional Jail (ACRJ), opened in 1974, houses roughly 324 people. Over the past three years, community members have gained unprecedented access to the jail through an initiative, the Reflective Jail Tours, that are co-led by Tom Tom at the Festival. What began as an organic partnership with local justice organizations and leadership at the regional jail, has grown into an annual community staple—one that has strengthened understanding, inspired dialogue, and produced tangible benefits for our region.
Part 1: The Power of Proximity
“Proximity will empower you,” says Bryan Stevenson, founder and executive director of Equal Justice Initiative. He returns to the idea often, including two recent visits to Charlottesville, urging audiences to understand the power of showing up in marginalized spaces alongside marginalized people. “When you get proximate to the excluded and the disfavored,” he says, “you learn things you need to understand if we’re going to change the world.”
Inspired in part by Stevenson’s words, the Tom Tom Foundation has hosted Reflective Jail Tours for the last three years in partnership with Central Virginia Community Justice and the Charlottesville Area Justice Coalition. The goals were threefold: to help the public understand the lived experiences of some of the most marginalized members of the community; to highlight the work of organizations providing dignity and support to people reentering society; and to raise awareness of the services local groups offer.
The Reflective Jail Tours took shape in 2023 when the Charlottesville Area Justice Coalition and Equal Justice USA approached the jail about hosting community groups. The jail agreed, and the 2023 Tom Tom Festival, whose theme was TOGETHER, became the launch point. In 2024, that grew to three jail tours -- that quickly filled with a waitlist -- and complemented a broader ReEntry Program at the Festival. In 2025, the number grew to six tours over two days, and still couldn’t meet the demand.
Superintendent Col. Martin Kumer noted, “I have always appreciated the public’s interest in the jail… I believe this is one of many things that separates this community from many others.”
The jail can be a jarring experience for people who have never entered carceral spaces. Participants consistently describe the experience as shocking, eye-opening, surreal—and in many cases, life-changing. One community member described the environment she encountered: “Long, nondescript hallways lined with painted cinderblock, shiny linoleum, exposed piping running along the top of the walls near the ceiling, and a particular smell of mildew, cold, and cafeteria food all mixed together.”
Another participant recalled, “The older part of the jail was smelly, small, and I learned it had no A/C and major humidity problems. I was struck by the lack of privacy for inmates.” She left the tour “more interested in alternative ways of seeking justice, restoration, and rehabilitation.”
Over the past three years, the Jail Tours have produced measurable benefits for the community, including:
A $10,000 donation for restorative justice work
New connections to additional grant opportunities
New volunteers for jail-based programs
A twice-monthly Communion service offered to those held the jail
Part 2: The Growth of Proximity
The Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail has been part of our community for more than half a century, serving Nelson County, Albemarle County, and the City of Charlottesville. You’ve likely glimpsed it through the trees from I-64 or noticed the barbed-wire fencing along Avon Street Extended.
The jail itself shows its age. Its original wing opened in 1974, with an addition in 2000. A recent count showed 35 women and 289 men housed at ACRJ, and roughly 300 people return from the jail to the community each year.
Back in 2022, the jail’s chaplain invited a few community groups inside for tours. They knew the jail in theory but wanted to see the conditions firsthand. Afterward, several organizations wondered if these visits could be opened to the wider public and paired with education or advocacy.
The series at Tom Tom Festival ultimately adopted the title: Restorative Justice–Another Way of Responding to Violence: Regional Jail Tour + Discussion. Beyond simply fostering proximity, Each tour brings community members inside the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail for a one-hour walk-through, followed by a one-hour restorative-justice discussion facilitated by Central Virginia Community Justice, our area’s restorative justice diversion program.
A formerly incarcerated community member at ACRJ emphasized the hope that community presence brought to individuals at the jail, seeing it as proof that the community cared enough to engage. One concern the hosts had, especially since the Jail Tour was featured on a Festival line-up, was that the tours would become entertainment, or perceived in any way as exploitative of those incarcerated. This individual refuted the notion that those inside were like a "zoo attraction,” and instead emphasized the gesture of support that visiting represented.
Part 3: National Data, Local Context
Sam Heath, a host and architect of the Jail Tour, used his experience at Equal Justice USA to connect the national scale of the criminal legal system to Charlottesville’s local realities. Before federal funding cuts forced its closure this summer, EJUSA partnered with the Prison Policy Initiative and the local group Offender Aid and Restoration (OAR) to help tell this story through data.
The United States spends $182 billion each year on its criminal legal system—prisons, police, prosecution, and more—but spending alone doesn’t capture the scale of “mass incarceration.” The term isn’t rhetorical—it’s a factual description of how our country responds to violence, harm, and crime.
With only 5% of the world’s population, the U.S. holds more than 20% of the world’s prisoners. Nearly 2 million people are incarcerated nationwide, down slightly from its peak of 2.3 million five years ago. Roughly 1 in every 100 people in this country is locked up. In Virginia, more than 60,000 people are imprisoned or jailed. (Learn more)
The only country in the world that incarcerates at a higher rate than Virginia is El Salvador.
One of the key distinctions emphasized on the Reflective Jail Tours is that ACRJ is a jail, not a prison. Jails hold people awaiting sentencing or serving typically shorter sentences—usually under two years—while prisons house individuals serving longer terms. ACRJ detains people charged with or convicted of every type of offense, from traffic violations to murder and sexual assault. Over the years this includes James Fields after the murder of Heather Heyer, Christopher Darnell Jones after the 2022 UVA shooting, and Jesse Matthew after the deadly assault of Hannah Graham.
Very recently, after years of debate, ACRJ was approved for a $49 million renovation (about $73 million with interest). The General Assembly will cover 25%, and the three localities the jail serves will share the remaining cost. The project won’t add beds; it will replace the outdated section and build a new visitation center, two mental-health units, a special-housing unit, three outdoor recreation areas, and more staff space. Demolition began in late November.
Part 4: A New Approach - Restorative Justice
Originally, the tours ended as soon as participants walked out of the jail. Central Virginia Community Justice (CVCJ) proposed adding a reflection period—both to help people process what they had seen and to introduce restorative justice as an alternative to incarceration.
Restorative justice brings together the person harmed and the person who caused the harm to determine what healing looks like for both—without relying on punishment or incarceration. It’s an ancient, global practice used to address every kind of harm. 98% of participants in CVCJ’s restorative justice process report increased well-being.
“Restorative justice not only avoids incarceration in the referred case,” says CVCJ’s Executive Director Ashley Cinalli-Mathews. “Research shows that RJ participants are less likely to re-offend, thereby avoiding future incarceration as well."
During the Reflective Jail Tours, participants met a CVCJ facilitator, were introduced to Col. Martin Kumer, placed their belongings in lockers, and passed through security before being buzzed into the facility. Col. Kumer then led the group through meeting rooms, housing units, recreation areas, the medical ward, and more.
In the reflection session afterward, a CVCJ facilitator guided a circle process, inviting participants to slow down and share: What emotions came up? What did they notice? What stayed with them? The facilitator also explained CVCJ’s restorative justice program, which partners with local prosecutors to offer a non-carceral option in some cases and is also available to community members seeking support for non-criminal harm.
Discussions touched on mental health, re-entry, rehabilitation, programming, funding, and the broader question of how communities can respond to harm. People often left feeling heavy—but also motivated to imagine responses beyond simply locking people up.
Part 5: Impact of Proximity
The impact of these tours on community participants is unmistakable—and the effects ripple outward. They’ve helped generate new funding and volunteers for both the jail and Central Virginia Community Justice. More broadly, Charlottesville is increasingly exploring responses to harm that don’t default to incarceration but instead seek pathways toward healing.
Participants’ reactions reflected changed perspectives. “The first room the warden took us to was likely intended to shock us,” shared one tour participant. “And it worked.” The look, feel, smell, and air quality were markedly different in the half-century-old sections of the jail.
Another participant concluded, “Visiting a jail is something everyone should do. Physically entering a space where other bodies are kept in punishment for days, weeks, months, or years invites us to feel what happens to our bodies when we enter such a space.”
One unique tour for Charlottesville City Schools staff—including several principals—was especially difficult for the facilitator, who saw five individuals with whom she had grown up.
Erin Campbell, a facilitator with CVCJ, said, “Pulling back the veil is important for people to form their own views about how the jail is or is not serving safety and rehabilitation in our community.”
Others, like Sam Heath, who has visited the jail many times over the years, wants the community to reconsider how it responds to violence, harm, and crime. “We can work to address root causes of violence such as poverty, racism, and mental illness or we can try to punish our way out of the problem. And we know punishment does not work.”
To a degree, the jail acknowledges this reality by offering mental-health treatment and educational and vocational programs. As a community, though, we can continue to invest in alternative responses to harm that we know work—like restorative justice.
It echoes Bryan Stevenson’s reminder about the power of proximity: “Our understanding of how we change things comes in proximity to inequality, to injustice.”
About Tom Tom
At the Tom Tom Foundation, our mission is to bring people together to build a brighter tomorrow. Each April, the Tom Tom Festival serves as a civic platform where big issues—like restorative justice and incarceration—can be explored through honest conversation, community partnership, and shared imagination.
Further Reading
Equal Justice USA (forced to close due to federal funding cuts)