Columnist Sandra Thompson: Best use of court space a weighty matter

Sandra Thompson

Sunday, May 14, 2000 | 11 a.m.

Sandra Thompson is vice president/associate editor of the Las Vegas Sun. She can be reached at 259-4025 or through e-mail at thompson@lasvegassun.com.

Some staffers caught in a space crunch at Family Court are questioning the need for a weight room used almost exclusively by one judge, a hearing master and a few bailiffs.

The 5-year-old building at Bonanza and Pecos roads is being renovated to accommodate three new judges and their staffs, who will come on board in January. Administrators, hearing masters and staff are being shuffled around to make the best use of the cramped space.

The 500- to 1,000-square-foot weight room could accommodate three new offices. But Family Court Judge Steve Jones, who uses the room and who reportedly procured the thousands of dollars of weight training equipment it houses, refuses to give it up.

Alternative design plans that did not count the space then were drawn up and presented to the Family Court judges. Instead of using the space to accommodate growing court needs, the judges recently voted 5-3 to retain the weight room.

Since it was a secret ballot, no one knows for sure who voted for or against retaining the weight room. Judges who could not attend the meeting were allowed to vote by proxy.

There reportedly were strong opinions on both sides of the issue. Some staffers consider Jones' insistence on retaining the weight room as a self-serving decision, not in the best interest of the court.

Jones did not return telephone messages left with his secretary.

Enjoying a new era of cooperation and collegiality, Family Court judges don't want the weight room to turn into a divisive issue.

County architect Ralph Bond downplays it.

"The weight room was not an issue. We worked around it," he says, adding that the new plans did not affect the project's cost.

"We came up with several options, and the judges selected one. Normally you do that on any project. There are pluses and minuses on every option."

The original plan for the Family Court building did include a weight room, but it was later set aside as a bailiff's training room.

The room sat empty until a few years ago when Jones reportedly brought in weight training and other fitness equipment and turned it into a weight room. Since then, only he and a handful of people have used the room.

The equipment is said to be Jones' or procured by him. No taxpayer dollars reportedly were used for the equipment.

Some county officials were surprised to learn of the weight room.

The Clark County Government Center has a fitness area for its employees who pay $12 a month to use the facility. The county fire department also has a fitness/weight training area, which employees pay to use.

There is no charge to use the Family Court weight room.

While such facilities are becoming more common in the workplace, the issue at Family Court is not fitness, but the best use of available space.

Judges have been sharing courtrooms and court administrators are considering varying court calendars and schedules to accommodate room for hearings. To free up space, child support hearings have been moved out of the building.

The space crunch will only get worse when the new judges and their staffs move in. It's estimated that each judge's support staff will cost between $600,000 and $700,000 a year.

They most likely will prefer to have desks, chairs and work spaces over weight training equipment.