Video visitation could be key point in relocation of Nevada inmates
CARSON CITY — Nevada inmates shipped out of state will likely have a way to visit with a video connection with their families.
Nevada Department of Corrections Director James Dzurenda told the Legislature money committees on Monday that he wants the state to include that service from vendors when it seeks bids for housing 200 inmates out of state. Those inmates will, in part, be violent gang members who coerce other inmates to do illegal activities in prisons, he said.
“I need to make a point that we’re not tolerating this,” Dzurenda said.
Gov. Brian Sandoval has proposed sending inmates out of state to alleviate overcrowding issues and improve security.
The budget proposal for Southern Desert Correctional Center, 40 miles north of Las Vegas, has the out-of-state program. It is budgeted to cost about $6.2 million for each of the next two fiscal years, starting in July.
Corrections officials told lawmakers they discovered a system in which beds were inappropriately counted toward a prison’s total, making it difficult to get accurate tallies of how many openings are in an institution.
Some problems include the need to clarify that hospital beds, temporary holding cells and beds for juvenile offenders segregated in an adult prison do not count toward the total.
“We have to put the right inmate in the right bed,” said David Tristan, deputy director of programs for DOC.
Officials are concerned prisons will run out of space for programs that serve inmates, or run afoul in court for not providing necessary services like adequate bathroom facilities or space for inmate visits from outsiders.
Nevada’s corrections system has 14,127 inmates, according to a January report.
Assembly Speaker Jason Frierson, D-Las Vegas, said it is important inmates get the services they need because they will likely return to Nevada after release.
“My concern is we are not doing the public a service if we ship them out of state because they’re just going to come back,” he said.
State officials have not set a date for when Nevada will advertise a request for proposal to house inmates.
Contact Ben Botkin at bbotkin@reviewjournal.com or 775-461-0661. Follow @BenBotkin1 on Twitter.
