Savings claims challenged for closing Nevada State Prison

CARSON CITY — Questioning claims that the move would save millions of dollars, the Nevada Corrections Association is calling for an audit of a proposal to shut down the Nevada State Prison.

Officials for the Nevada Department of Corrections have failed to document the plan they say would allow closing the prison without endangering inmates or correctional officers, said Gene Columbus, head of the association representing prison guards and other employees.

Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval backs closing the prison.

Columbus wrote in a letter last week to Assembly Speaker John Oceguera, D-Las Vegas, that lawmakers have twice rejected the closure, instead appropriating $17.6 million for the prison. He said the funding decision “reflects the Legislature’s intention to protect the jobs of a sizable staff employed at the facility.”

Greg Cox, state director of corrections, told lawmakers earlier this year the plan is to transfer most of the more than 650 inmates to High Desert in Southern Nevada, which has two new, empty units.

He said Nevada State Prison requires one correctional staffer per 4.7 inmates while new institutions like High Desert require one per 11 inmates. It costs $23,615 a year to keep an inmate at Nevada State Prison and $14,061 a year at High Desert.

But Columbus said prison administrators have “consistently failed to provide adequate supporting documentation for their budgetary claims.