EDITORIAL: Gov. Brian Sandoval looks for alternatives to building new Nevada prisons

Nevada’s prison population is projected to maintain a slight upward trend over the next decade. But building new facilities will cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars and could leave a giant hole in the state budget.

The average number of inmates in the system is 13,345 right now, but estimates put the figure at 14,247 by fiscal 2019, almost a 7 percent increase. That means the state must either reduce the number of people behind bars of be prepared to spend a lot of money.

Gov. Brian Sandoval and his corrections director would prefer the former.

“Our goal is to not construct a new prison,” said Mike Willden, the governor’s chief of staff.

To that end, the governor proposes to spend more money to expedite the parole process and more closely monitor those who are released. At a recent meeting of the Nevada Board of Prison Commissioners, it was noted that as a percentage of the prison population, Nevada has the fewest parolee releases in the country.

Nobody advocates early release for those who remain a danger to the community or are a good bet to re-offend. The price the criminal class inflicts on law-abiding citizens is in the billions of dollars, nationally. The need for prison space isn’t going away — violent criminals must be segregated from society.

But Gov. Sandoval’s plan deserves a try before the state embarks upon another round of prison construction. It also dovetails nicely with a couple of other endeavors that might help reduce the inmate population.

First, a state commission led by Nevada Supreme Court Justice James Hardesty has met for more than a year to study the state’s criminal justice procedures. The panel has discussed possible sentencing reform recommendations intended to lower the prison population by ensuring fewer nonviolent offenders are locked up.

Second, Corrections Director James Dzurenda has repeatedly advocated for additional programs designed to reduce the recidivism rate among inmates. He has the support of Gov. Sandoval, who said he believes additional education efforts and counseling services to deal with addiction issues could lower by the number of repeat prisoners by 10 percent.

Lawmakers must seriously consider all these measures. Taken together, they offer hope that the state can avoid expensive new prison construction and more efficiently control its inmate population without compromising public safety.