Board leaves prison’s fate to Legislature

CARSON CITY -- A move to close the old Nevada State Prison was delayed Tuesday on a 2-1 vote by the state Prison Board, with Gov. Jim Gibbons, who leads the panel, casting the dissenting vote.

The other board members, Secretary of State Ross Miller and Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto, said the decision should be left to the 2009 Legislature. Miller said any partial shutdowns of areas of the prison in Carson City should be delayed too.

Corrections Director Howard Skolnik has said closure of the medium-security prison, dating to the 1870s, would save about $18 million. He has shut down two units and had planned to close a third.

The board acted after hearing from prison guards and their representatives who said shutting down the prison would be a costly mistake that would mean job losses or difficult relocations to other prisons and that would hurt Carson City's economy.