North Las Vegas Detention Center cuts jobs

A new federal detention center that will bring more than 230 jobs to Pahrump next month is putting 43 people out of work in North Las Vegas.

The city is laying off 19 corrections officers and 24 civilian jail workers because it is about to lose a third of its inmates to the privately owned facility in Pahrump.

As soon as the 1,072-bed Nevada Southern Detention Center opens Oct. 1, the U.S. Marshals Service will cut the number of inmates it houses at the 750-bed North Las Vegas Detention Center from 300 down to 50.

Sgt. Tim Bedwell, spokesman for the North Las Vegas Police Department, said the city is notifying the employees who will lose their jobs. "Everyone will know within a week," he said.

The city expects to save $9.7 million a year with the 43 layoffs and 10 other staff positions already eliminated by attrition at its detention center, which now employs 282 full-time workers.

Bedwell said additional money will be saved on maintenance by closing two of the jail's older dormitories and moving inmates into newer facilities built in 2002 with federal money.

"Quite frankly, it's not a money maker for the city," he said of housing federal detainees.

North Las Vegas signed a contract with the Marshals Service in 2000. The agreement is set to expire in 2015. The city also is under contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to house up to 150 inmates.

While the new prison will reduce the need for the Marshals Service to rent beds from city jails in the Las Vegas Valley, it won't eliminate the practice completely.

Federal inmates in the midst of a trial, for example, will still be housed in the valley whenever possible to avoid daily transport to and from Pahrump, 60 miles away.

The impact of the new detention center is apparently not being felt in Henderson, where the city is renovating and expanding its jail to almost twice its current capacity.

Spokeswoman Kathy Blaha said the city has been in discussions with the Marshals Service and expects no significant change in the number of so-called contract beds it rents out for federal inmates.

"We have no plans to cut staff," Blaha said. "In fact, we'll be adding new staff with the completion of the expansion."