Panel: Prison changes would save money
CARSON CITY — A government efficiency commission is calling for Gov. Jim Gibbons to close the high-cost Ely State Prison and Lovelock Correctional Center and build new prisons for the state near Reno and Las Vegas instead.
The Saving and Government Efficiency Commission offered 44 recommendations to save Nevada money in its report.
Most of those recommendations have been considered by the Legislature, but a few, including the prison closure proposals, are new.
The commission found Ely and Lovelock have higher operational costs and at times can’t find needed employees. It also says inadequate hospitals exist in the two communities, and offenders are far from courts that handle their appeals.