County, sheriff at odds over jail

The low-level offenders' jail got a reprieve Tuesday.

Clark County staff asked commissioners to delay opening the 1,038-bed jail for a year to save $13 million in operating costs and offset a budget crunch. An assistant sheriff, however, urged commissioners to either open 300-plus beds at the jail or grant the two sides more time for dialogue.

The commission gave the sheriff and county staff two weeks to reach a compromise. After that, the county must tackle tough budget questions as tax revenue tightens and a deadline looms for submitting a draft to the state, County Manager Virginia Valentine said.

"The day of reckoning is at hand but not today," said Commissioner Rory Reid.

Sheriff Doug Gillespie, who was out of town Tuesday, complained last week that county leaders failed to inform him of their intent to keep the 200,000-square-foot jail complex empty for a year.

But Valentine insisted she and other staffers told Gillespie more than once that the county might postpone the jail's opening to help with a mounting shortfall.

Those who support the yearlong delay say the inmate population at the county's detention center has dropped by 4.6 percent since the peak two years ago.

However, Assistant Sheriff Ted Moody said more jail space is needed, despite the decline.

"We're a little less overcrowded," Moody said. He predicted crime would rise in the poor economy.

Even if the jail is unused, the county must still pay $11.3 million in yearly lease payments. The county also forks out $11.5 million a year to house 340 inmates in other jurisdictions.

Running 350 beds at the new jail would cost $4.5 million less than if all 1,038 were opened, according to county estimates.

Commissioner Tom Collins pressed to open the jail now, arguing that crime is like tooth decay -- it costs more money to fix the longer you wait.

But a civil rights advocate contends that police often arrest homeless people for jaywalking, sleeping on a bench or possessing open containers to "clean up the streets" for tourists.

"I think there is a lot of pressure to keep homeless people off the street," said Gary Peck, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern Nevada. "That tends to overcrowd the jail."

Contact reporter Scott Wyland at swyland@reviewjournal.com or 702-455-4519.