Henderson approves housing Metro arrestees
Too much of a good time on the Strip might land locals or visitors a one-way ticket to the Henderson jail nearly 20 miles away.
It will be up to the detainees to find their way back upon release from the Water Street facility across from City Hall.
Henderson is housing detainees arrested on weekends by Las Vegas police for misdemeanor offenses under the Safe Strip Initiative. Metro has been sending 30 to 50 people each of the past four weekends to the Henderson Detention Center, according to Metro Deputy Chief Todd Fasulo, who is in charge of detention services.
On Tuesday, the Henderson City Council approved a contract between the city and Metro for the program, which runs during the summer. Under the agreement, which was backdated to May 22, Henderson will receive $102.21 per day from Clark County for the first two days of incarceration. The county will be charged $111.97 per day starting the third day, the same amount the city already receives for housing pretrial detainees and sentenced misdemeanor inmates.
Fasulo said the county negotiated the lower rate for Strip detainees because they only stay 24 to 48 hours before release. Safe Strip runs between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. on Friday and Saturday during the summer, which is one of Metro’s busiest times. All the processing of the Henderson inmates arrested under the initiative is done by the county.
Henderson spokeswoman Kathleen Richards said the new agreement with the county is an extension of an ongoing relationship with Metro.
“The existing agreement is for housing inmates facing mostly gross misdemeanor or felony charges out of Henderson,” Richards said. “The new agreement is for housing inmates arrested for causing a nuisance or breaking laws in the Las Vegas Boulevard area over a weekend or holiday period.”
Metro is using space in Henderson’s 540-bed facility while an $88 million, 4-year renovation project continues at the Clark County Detention Center in downtown Las Vegas.
“This allows us not to fill up our booking area with nuisance-type crime arrests, and we only do it on Safe Strip nights during the summer,” Fasulo said. “It is an alternative to help us manage the jail population as well as support the enforcement actions of our patrol officers.”
Metro is not the only outside agency to house inmates in Henderson. The city has a contract with U.S. Marshals to house detainees from Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The additional inmates and accompanying revenue might be welcomed by the city, which saw a $2.8 million shortfall in expected income from the detention center for the fiscal year that ended June 30.
Contact reporter Arnold M. Knightly at aknightly@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3882. Follow him on Twitter: @KnightlyGrind
