Updated at 10:55 a.m. with a statement from Sheriff Sean Casey.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The study of Alexandria's jail that City Council paid for in April by cutting $200,000 from the sheriff's budget is now underway, and the city wants to hear from residents before it concludes at year's end.

"The central question is straightforward: Should Alexandria continue to operate its own detention center, and how should it be funded, structured and sustained?" Deputy City Manager Yon Lambert told council Tuesday night.

The study, by the corrections consulting firm CGL, is due Dec. 31. A public feedback form went live Tuesday and stays open through Nov. 20. No decision is attached to it. Lambert said the study will "inform, not predetermine" what the city does, and Mayor Alyia Gaskins said council will take no vote on the report, which is meant to inform budget and other decisions beginning in 2027.