Slumlord Lawrence might serve sentence in one of his blighted properties

Convicted slumlord Oliver C. Lawrence could serve his 70-day jail sentence in home confinement, but maybe not at his $1 million brick home in Ashland.

The city of Richmond is asking that Lawrence, the owner of Bayou Properties, be ordered to live in one of his now-vacant, boarded-up homes in Church Hill North or Blackwell.

Yesterday, General District Court Judge Barbara J. Gaden considered a motion for home confinement filed by Lawrence's attorneys, but she did not make a decision.

Lawrence is scheduled to report to the Richmond City Jail on Tuesday following last week's sentencing, which included new and previously suspended fines of more than $177,000 for more than 180 convictions on property-maintenance violations.

Assistant City Attorney Greg Lukanuski said the city is willing to support home confinement as long as Lawrence is required to live at 1016 Oakwood Ave. in Church Hill North or 2007 Albany Ave. in Blackwell. The single-family homes, owned by Lawrence's company, could be hooked up to electricity, heat and other utilities by Tuesday, Lukanuski said.

The city also is asking that Lawrence be assigned to the jail's inmate work crew that cleans up blighted properties.

"This is not a grandstanding play," Lukanuski said after the hearing. "If we're successful, that means one less vacant home in the city" and a reduced likelihood of crime and other problems associated with abandoned properties.

L. Wendell Allen, an attorney for Lawrence, declined to comment.

In continuing the case until Monday, Gaden asked Lawrence's attorneys to present a plan for home confinement in Hanover County and another one for Richmond. She also told Lawrence's attorneys to allow city inspectors inside the Oakwood and Albany homes to confirm that they're inhabitable.

Lukanuski said the city is hoping to send a message to the owners of other blighted properties.

"We want people who own rental property in the city, when they're making that decision of whether or not to repair, [to consider] 'I may be living here someday,'" he said.

If home confinement to one of the city properties is accepted, it would not appear to present a legal problem, especially because Lawrence still would have the option of serving his time in jail, said Josh Bowers, an associate law professor at the University of Virginia Law School.

He added that there could be instances where communities "are better served by an atypical sentence that's really structured to take into account the blameworthiness of the defendant's conduct."

City officials have been grappling with Lawrence over the condition of his properties for more than two years. He owns 150 to 300 properties citywide, according to city estimates.

In 2007, the city cited 175 violations on Lawrence's buildings, including some in the 300 block of West Broad Street and the 200 block of East Grace Street that had been heavily damaged by suspicious fires.

In April, a jury awarded a $237,009 judgment against Lawrence and Bayou Properties that included more than $150,000 in unpaid wages to 32 construction workers.

Contact Will Jones at (804) 649-6911 or .