Visitors to the Regional Justice Center wait in line to pass through the security checkpoint staffed by administrative bailiffs Wednesday afternoon at the south entrance of the courthouse in downtown Las Vegas. Photo by John Gurzinski.

The Clark County courts system will lose at least one-fourth of its administrative bailiffs to resignations in the coming weeks, and several bailiffs said the reason for the defections is simple: money.

Assistant Court Administrator Michael Ware said Wednesday that six administrative bailiffs resigned recently, and he has been told of at least four more resignations that are in the works. The system has 41 administrative bailiff positions.

Almost all of the bailiffs who have resigned or will soon resign are assigned to the Regional Justice Center.

While Ware put the vacancies at 10, some bailiffs told the Review-Journal privately this week that they expect more will leave soon for higher-paying jobs.

Ware said safety at the courthouse will not be compromised, but the lack of manpower could translate into additional inconveniences to the public. Last week, he said, the county had to shut down one of two public entrances to the busy Regional Justice Center because there weren't enough bailiffs to keep both entrances open.

"We are not going to sacrifice safety in the interest of time," Ware said.

There are two types of bailiffs at the courthouse. Judicial bailiffs serve at the will of judges and work in the courtrooms. Administrative bailiffs, on the other hand, screen courthouse visitors for contraband and weapons and provide general security throughout the courthouse. Administrative bailiffs have a pay range of $35,796 to $55,481.

Such pay, several of them said this week, is simply not competitive with that of other comparable valley law enforcement jobs.

Also of particular concern to those departing is the level of benefits. Administrative bailiffs do not get the Public Employees Retirement System, or PERS, benefits that other law enforcement officers do, county spokesman Erik Pappa said. The program allows individuals to retire after 20 years of service and collect generous retirement benefits.

Administrative bailiffs instead get the same kind of PERS benefits as other non-law enforcement county employees, which is a slightly less generous package.

Only the Legislature could change the rules to allow administrative bailiffs to get the same retirement package as police, Pappa said.

Bailiffs who spoke to the Review-Journal on condition of anonymity this week said those who are leaving are taking jobs in North Las Vegas Municipal Court, in Henderson law enforcement or at the Las Vegas city marshal's office, while some also are seeking jobs as investigators with the district attorney's office.

While exact pay figures for those jobs were not available late Wednesday, several bailiffs said the starting salaries for those jobs are as much as $8,000 to $10,000 more. Those jobs also have higher salary caps than what the county pays administrative bailiffs.

"For that kind of money, I would look elsewhere," one bailiff said.

Ware confirmed Wednesday that the level of pay and benefits has been the primary challenge in keeping administrative bailiffs on staff.

"They feel they can get better pay and retirement benefits elsewhere," Ware said.

Pappa said the county has examined the salaries offered to bailiffs and determined that they are adequate.

"We appreciate the work that the bailiffs do," Pappa said. "But we recently conducted a market study and found that the county's salaries for bailiffs are competitive, so justifying an increase in salaries would be difficult. That is money that would be better spent on addressing the county's and the court's overall staffing deficiencies."