Public defenders criticize bill giving jail time for probation

Kiley Russell

Tuesday, April 27, 1999 | 9:19 a.m.

CARSON CITY - Nevada public defenders are arguing against a bill letting judges impose county jail time for crimes that normally would result in probation.

Critics of SB148 said Monday the bill will lead to higher costs and pack more prisoners into already overcrowded lock-ups around the state.

SB148 would allow judges to sentence people convicted of category "E" felonies - usually for non-violent crimes like welfare fraud or drug possession - to up to a year in county jails as a condition of probation.

The bill is intended to correct an inadvertent effect of a 1995 truth-in-sentencing law that forbade jail for such convictions under most circumstances, according to supporters.

The 1995 law allows felons to thumb their noses at the courts because they know they usually won't face any time behind bars, supporters say.

"We believe you never intended to reduce the flexibility that judges have," Douglas County District Judge Dave Gamble told the Assembly Judiciary Committee.

"We're not saying that all people convicted of category E felonies need to go to jail," added Washoe County District Attorney Richard Gammick. "It'll just be for those individuals whose attention they need to get."

But the bill's critics say that if judges want to get a convicted felon's attention, they should order a prison term at the state's cost and not order probation in a local jail at the county's cost.

"I think that a year is way out of line," said David Gibson, a deputy Clark County public defender.

"These people have committed felonies and if they are thumbing their noses at the system, then they should go to prison," he said.

But hinting at a willingness to compromise, Gibson added that "maybe a 45-day limit would be more realistic" if lawmakers chose to grant some jail time for probation.

John Morrow of the Washoe County Public Defenders Office said county jails have been sending non-violent prisoners to alternative programs - like community service or house arrest - designed to free up bed space for more dangerous criminals.

But SB148 will force jails to free up bed space in crowded county jails to make room for the new, often non-violent felons, he said.

"The question is, as a category E felon is sentenced to jail, who do we release to make room for them?" said Washoe Sheriff's Capt. Jim Nadeau, also representing the Nevada Sheriff's and Chief's Association.