Youth offenders won’t be sent to Texas prison

Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2001 | 9:52 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- A facility that may have housed some of the state's youth offenders when the Summit View detention center in North Las Vegas closes Jan. 31 is being converted into an adult prison, Nevada officials say.

This leaves the state with one less option, as they had considered sending some of the juveniles to a youth prison in Liberty, Texas, run by Corrections Corp. of America, to complete their sentences.

Despite the conversion of the Texas facility, other alternatives do exist for the 37 youth inmates still in Summit View, Willie Smith, deputy director in charge of corrections for the state Division of Child and Family Services, said.

The company operates a secure juvenile center near Memphis, Tenn., and Rite of Passage in Nevada has agreed to interview some of the youths to determine whether that organization will accept them, she said.

Some of the inmates will be placed on parole, though Smith declined to say how many would be released or how many would be placed in other facilities.

State Human Resources Director Mike Willden had said that the most serious offenders would be sent to Texas.

Although that is no longer an option, the center in Tennessee uses similar security measures, Smith said.

The $14 million Summit View detention center opened last year under the management of Youth Services International and its parent company Correctional Services Corp. The companies served notice they will end its contract the first week of March.

There have been security and other problems at Summit View since it opened, including attempted escapes and staff members having sex with inmates. The state paid Correctional Services $122 a day per inmate, but the private contractor complained the state never put enough inmates in the center for it to be profitable.

Willden, with the approval of Gov. Kenny Guinn, then devised a plan for the state to run Summit View, but the Legislative Interim Finance Committee nixed the idea and told Willden to find another private contractor or other alternatives to take care the inmates.

After Summit View is closed Jan. 31, Correctional Services will be required to make repairs before it can pull out. The center will be vacant for several months until a new contractor is hired.