The issue of inmate and staff safety inside the Richmond City Justice Center continues to bubble as Sheriff Antionette V. Irving’s roster of deputies keeps shrinking.

Stabbings and beatings are becoming more common, the Free Press is told, even as Sheriff Irving reported this week that another 15 deputies have resigned or retired since February when she reported 215 deputies were on the payroll.

It is estimated that the sheriff now has 200 deputies of the 385 she said two months ago she was authorized to operate the jail. Deputies’ duties include courthouse security, release and intake of inmates, evictions and service of civil papers.

William Burnett, who once ran jail operations under Sheriff Irving’s predecessor and plans to run for sheriff in the 2025 election, has said that 200 deputies is far below the minimum staff needed. He said that he needed 190 deputies to operate the jail.

Sheriff Irving, whose jail operation has repeatedly passed state audits, hopes that a state-mandated raise July 1 will help her fill the depleted ranks, according to an email to the Free Press.

But that hope has done nothing to reassure the mothers and advocates who came to council’s Public Safety Committee on Tuesday to air concerns about the injuries their loved ones have suffered and to condemn the lack of information that Sheriff Irving provides about incidents.

Among the speakers was a mother, who asked for anonymity out of concern for her son’s safety. She said that she learned that her son recently was stabbed four times and rushed to a nearby hospital for surgery to re-inflate his collapsed lungs only after he was able to call her days later as he recovered.

She said jail personnel never notified her about the emergency or responded to her questions about the April 15 stabbing that her son told her occurred while he sat in a recreation area. She said she has learned the stabbing was payback for his picking up a remote control for the TV without permission from the ruling inmates.

“My son was almost murdered and no one would tell me anything. When I called, they hung up on me. I was dismissed,” she told the committee. “How are they getting weapons into the jail? We need our public officials to do something.”

That also was the view of Lawrence West, founder and leader of Black Lives Matter RVA. “The safety mechanisms are not being adhered to for people in jail. Some people say inmates do not have rights, but they have human rights,” he said. “People should feel safe in a jail cell.”

When the Free Press inquired about the stabbing, spokeswoman Catherine Green said the sheriff’s policy is not to comment on matters that are under investigation.

Eighth District Councilwoman Reva M. Trammell, who chairs the committee, said she wishes something could be done to ease the anguish that relatives of inmates expressed at the meeting.

At this point, Ms. Trammell said, the sheriff, as an independent elected official, “can do what the hell she wants to do” and there is nothing council or anyone else can do about it, not even the governor and secretary of public safety.

There is a state oversight board for local and regional jails, but the sheriff’s operation is listed as meeting the board’s standards.

“We don’t know what else we can do,” Council Vice President Kristen Nye, 4th District, a committee member told the speakers. “We are in an uncomfortable position. The sheriff does not report to City Council.

“Maybe you all need to picket in front of the jail. Maybe going in front of the jail would help,” she said.

Both she and Ms. Trammell urged the family members to continue speaking out and telling their stories to keep a spotlight focused on the problems that their loved ones are facing.