Lawmakers hear case for closing Summit View youth center

CARSON CITY - Legislators questioned Wednesday whether Gov. Jim Gibbons' plan to close the maximum-security Summit View Youth Correctional Center in Las Vegas would save money or just lead to problems at wide-open rural centers where offenders would be moved.

They noted that the state still must pay off costs for constructing the $15 million Summit View youth prison near Nellis Air Force Base and that the bucolic Elko and Caliente facilities, where about 40 offenders would be sent, may not be secure enough for them.

Summit View is built like a prison with razor wire fencing, while the rural youth training centers do not even have fences. They are cottage-like settings where it is up to staff to make sure offenders don't just walk away.

Department of Health and Human Services Director Michael Willden told legislators that the state can save $3.7 million by closing Summit View. Layoff notices already have been sent to facility employees.

Legislators are reviewing proposals by Gibbons to close Summit View and cut state agency spending by 10 percent between March and June 30, 2011, the end of the state's two-year budget cycle. Although Summit View is on the governor's cut list, a decision to close it won't be made until the Legislature goes into a special session on Feb. 23.

Because of declining state tax revenue, state government must reduce spending by 20 percent, or $881 million. So far, fewer than half of the potential cuts have been identified publicly by the Gibbons administration.

Willden told the Legislature's Interim Finance Committee that there are no plans for erecting fences around the Caliente and Elko training centers if Summit View offenders are moved there. The two training centers house a combined 260 offenders but have space for 40 more.

"They are staff-secured facilities," Willden said, explaining it is up to employees to make sure the offenders don't leave.

On its Web site, the Division of Child and Family Services, which runs the three facilities, calls Summit View a maximum-security residential facility designed "to segregate serious and violent juvenile offenders from lower level offenders."

It was built for 96 offenders but now houses less than half that number, ages 12 to 18.

The Caliente and Elko centers are referred to only as "staff-secure" facilities on the state Web site.

Ben Kieckhefer, a spokesman for the Health and Human Services Department, said officials would not recommend closing Summit View if they thought there would be problems maintaining security at the two rural centers. He said the proposal to close Summit View is strictly a cost-savings measure.

"It's really an issue of whether we can afford to keep it open," Kieckhefer said in a phone interview.

"If we thought safety was an issue, we wouldn't be doing it," he said. "This is what they do professionally, and it's a professional opinion that they can manage it."

Chrystal Main, a spokeswoman for Child and Family Services, said some of the crimes young men at Summit View have committed are larceny, assault with a deadly weapon, sexual offenses and domestic violence, Main said.

Jeanine Lake, the Las Vegas union representative for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, Local 4041, which represents Summit View workers, said employees received layoff letters last week.

Lake said that she hadn't seen the letters, but that she'd been told employees with the highest seniority will be allowed to transfer to the Caliente facility.

There are about 50 employees at Summit View.

Lake said it's not an ideal situation to house Summit View's serious offenders in the same facilities as less violent offenders.

"Most of these kids are one step away from prison," she said. "It could pose a very dangerous situation for the kids at Caliente and Elko."

Larry Carter, assistant director of Clark County's Department of Juvenile Justice Services, said Summit View's closing would dramatically affect Southern Nevada families.

Carter said that last year, 40 young men from Clark County were housed at Summit View. Six inmates were from Washoe County, he said. At the very least, Carter said, it will be an inconvenience for families and friends to travel hundreds of miles to see their loved ones in Elko or Caliente.

"The heaviest impact is definitely on Las Vegas families," he said.

Kieckhefer said Child and Family Services reviews the records of each youth offender and determines the most appropriate placement. Elko has only male offenders while Caliente houses males and females in separate cottages.

Offenders at the rural youth centers are never allowed in the towns of Elko or Caliente as the offenders are in isolated areas, he said.

And, he said, there are state teleconferencing facilities in Las Vegas where parents of offenders can see and speak with their children if they are moved to the rural centers.

No parents showed up at the Wednesday meeting to protest the closing of Summit View.

Perhaps the most notorious incident at the facility occurred in 2001 when 19 youths commandeered a rooftop.

Las Vegas police surrounded the facility, privately operated at the time. The offenders tore apart air-conditioning units on the roof and threw the debris, rocks and eventually their clothing at police, prompting police to fire with nonlethal bean bag rounds and pepper spray.

After three hours on the tin roof in 110-degree heat, the teens surrendered. There were no injuries.

During Wednesday's hearing, Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford pointed out that the state must still pay off the bond for constructing Summit View. Annual bond payments are $1.2 million.

Assemblywoman Sheila Leslie, D-Reno, was critical of the idea of mixing violent and nonviolent offenders in the same facilities. She said it made more sense to her to cut enrollment in the Caliente and Elko youth training centers.

Carter testified that closing Summit View would increase costs to the county by $447,000. He also questioned whether community-based services for the offenders would be available in rural settings.

Carter expects Clark County will have to place five more youth offenders in its juvenile centers if Summit View is closed. The county would also be hit with higher transportation costs because it would have to transport offenders to Caliente or Elko.

Horsford, D-Las Vegas, said Wednesday that he may schedule another meeting next week when the Legislature may develop its own cut list.

Citizens can give their views on Summit View and other cuts during a town hall meeting Saturday, from 9 a.m. to noon, in room 4401 in the Sawyer Building, 555 E. Washington Ave. A similar hearing will be held in Reno.

Contact reporter Ed Vogel at evogel@reviewjournal.com or 775-687-3901. Contact reporter Antonio Planas at aplanas@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4638.