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Nevada: State moves forward in for-profit facility take-over.
Legislative panel votes for state to operate youth prison

The Associated Press State & Local Wire
May 9, 2003
CARSON CITY, Nev.

A legislative panel agreed Friday that the state should run Summit View, the youth prison in North Las Vegas that has been mothballed since March 2002.

The Senate-Assembly budget subcommittee accepted Gov. Kenny Guinn's suggestion that the state, rather than a private contractor, run the 96-bed center near Nellis Air Force Base.

The center was opened in June 2000 and run by a subsidiary of Correctional Services Corp. But numerous problems were reported, including escapes and female staff members having sex with male inmates.

The private company pulled out in March 2002 and the youths were shipped to other programs. The state is paying Corrections Corporation of America $113 per day to handle Nevada inmates in Tennessee. Rite of Passage is charging $124 per day per inmate for Nevada wards.

Assemblywoman Sheila Leslie, D-Reno, said juvenile officers believe "the present situation we have is untenable."

The state Division of Child and Family Services estimated it could run the facility at $152 per day per inmate. The private operator was charging the state $124 per inmate per day before it pulled out.

Assembly Minority Leader Lynn Hettrick, R-Gardnerville, said he wouldn't support the reopening, which will have a nearly $10 million budget over the next two years.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio, R-Reno, has been a strong supporter of having a private company run Summit View. But he said he would support the state operation "reluctantly."

Raggio said he'd monitor the costs carefully to make sure they do not increase significantly during the coming two years. And he said the issue would be reviewed by the 2005 Legislature.

Assemblywoman Chris Giunchigliani, D-Las Vegas, said she shared some of Raggio's concerns. But, she said, "We have the opportunity to fix a problem and make sure the kids incarcerated are well taken care."


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