State prison closing urged

CARSON CITY -- The director of the Department of Corrections told Gov. Jim Gibbons and the public Tuesday that closing the Nevada State Prison is part of his plan to balance the agency budget in the coming two years.

Closing the prison would save more than $19 million a year but require the elimination of 200 jobs. Closing as many as four minimum-security conservation camps is also part of the agency's plan to cut spending by 14 percent.

"There is no way to get through this next reduction without reducing people," said agency Director Howard Skolnik.

Gibbons has asked for 14 percent cuts in the 2009-11 budget because of lower tax revenues.

Skolnik detailed his preliminary budget plans with the Board of Prison Commissioners, which voted to approve nearly $9.4 million in cuts in the corrections budget.

Those cuts, which include savings from facilities already closed, including the Southern Nevada Correctional Center at Jean, will be reviewed Thursday by the Legislature's Interim Finance Committee.

The cuts were approved by Gibbons and Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto. The third member of the prisons panel, Secretary of State Ross Miller, could not attend the meeting because of a personal matter.

The budget cuts for the current year will be made possible in large part because of an anticipated reduction of 500 inmates by the end of the calendar year, paroled because of a legislatively approved increase in good time credits for nonviolent offenders, Skolnik said.

But more facilities will have to close if further cuts are required in the upcoming budget that will start July 1, he said. The decision on whether to close the Nevada State Prison, one of the oldest in the West, and the four camps, will be up to Gibbons and the Legislature, Skolnik said.

Which camps would face closure has not been decided, he said. The most likely targets are rural camps, even though the state could suffer if wildfires break out and the inmates are not available for fighting fires, he said.

The Nevada State Prison, which has 900 inmates, can be closed because of an expansion of High Desert State Prison under way in Southern Nevada, Skolnik said. About 1,200 beds will be created. The plan is to open only 600 beds initially to save $3.1 million in staffing costs this year.

But Skolnik said some difficult decisions will have to be made if further inmate reductions are not seen in the next budget as a result of the good-time credit legislation approved in 2007. Without the continuing parole of eligible inmates, the system could be forced to release inmates early, he said.

"Frankly, we are going to be in trouble and there will be some very difficult decisions that somebody is going to have to make about who we keep in prison and who we let go."

Contact Capital Bureau reporter Sean Whaley at swhaley@reviewjournal.com or 775-687-3900.