A Campbell Avenue building is the home of Roanoke City Councilman Nick Hagen – but now he and his parents will rent part of it at $3,125 a month for a sheriff’s office program.

A new one-stop-shop for inmates being prepared to re-enter society will be located on the bottom floor of the well-known building at the corner of Campbell and Third Street.

The City Council by a 6-0 vote approved a Total Action for Progress grant of $60,000 for the city sheriff’s office project on Monday. Hagen read a conflict-of-interest statement before recusing himself from the vote. 

Res Ipsa Properties – which includes Hagen, his father, John, and his mother, Rosie – owns the building at 301 Campbell Avenue Southwest. A recently signed lease, which The Roanoke Rambler received through an open records request, includes the $3,125 monthly rent. The lease is for one year, with an option for renewal. 

The lease is signed by Rosie Hagen and City Manager Valmarie Turner.

Nick Hagen said he will continue to live in the building.

The Latin term res ipsa loquitur translates to “the thing speaks for itself,” and is a law principle that allows plaintiffs to prove negligence by circumstantial evidence, according to legal definitions.

Hagen said he was approached this summer by Sheriff Antonio Hash about the building’s availability and at that point, Hagen said he immediately contacted the city attorney’s office to discuss the conflict-of-interest potential.

“This has all been above board,” Hagen said Tuesday.

Hagen said he’s around a 10 percent stakeholder in the family LLC.

Hagen, the council’s lone Republican, said Tuesday he does not know the exact amount of financial windfall he will get from the lease agreement.

Hagen’s involvement did prompt the city attorney’s office to ask the state Conflict of Interest and Ethics Advisory Council for an opinion. City Attorney Tim Spencer said the actions taken by Hagen to recuse himself are part of the discussions with the advisory council to adequately address the situation.

Res Ipsa bought the Campbell Avenue building in 2016 from Jeffrey Krasnow and his wife for $422,500, according to city land records. It served as Krasnow’s law office for years. 

The property is currently assessed by the city at $1,068,400.

Hash, a Democrat who is running for re-election this year, said he has been searching for rental space for the inmate program for months. He said he tried to rent two other Campbell Avenue properties prior to the agreement with Res Ipsa, but the costs associated with one building were too high, and another was rented to someone else.

It’s important for the inmate training center to be near the sheriff’s office, which is located just down the street from the Res Ipsa building, he said.

Hash has made recidivism a priority during his first term as sheriff. 

He thanked the City Council during Monday’s meeting for the opportunity to open the inmate resource center and said it’s a “partnership to put people back out in society better than we found them.”

At the new facility, numerous community groups will offer inmates job and mental health training and other life skills in the same place, instead of inmates having to seek out appointments at their various locations, Hash said during an interview after Monday’s council meeting. There is significant interest, said Hash, who produced a photo on his phone of a recent roomful of community professionals prepared to be part of the new center.

Hash said he asked for the city attorney’s opinion of the use of the Res Ipsa building when he learned of Hagen’s involvement. He said he was glad an agreement worked out.

“I’m trying to get a resource to the people,” he said. “I don’t care who owns the building.”

In addition to the $60,000 TAP grant, the sheriff’s office is also using another $43,000 of repurposed state grant money for the project, Hash said. Two existing sheriff’s office positions will be used to staff the center, he said.

Hash told the council there will be required updates available on the center’s progress in the coming months.