Editorial: Nice to see change of priorities

Thursday, Aug. 15, 2002 | 8:44 a.m.

It was welcome news earlier this year when the state reported that its inmate population was stabilizing, in contrast to earlier projections of growth requiring more prison construction. The news allowed state Director of Prisons Jackie Crawford in April to outline a plan for slowing new construction of prisons and using the money that would be saved for rehabilitation programs. Gov. Kenny Guinn reacted favorably to the plan. It specifically proposed delaying the third construction phase at the medium-security High Desert Prison at Cold Springs and using some of the savings to build a transitional center for soon-to-be released inmates at the medium-security Southern Desert Correctional Center at Indian Springs. On Tuesday, when the state Prison Board looked approvingly at the final figures, and realized the amount of savings, a welcome new twist was add ed.

Guinn said one of his spending priorities, in lieu of the $39 million High Desert expansion, will be for increasing the scope of mental health services in Southern Nevada. For years, Southern Nevada has been under served in the area of mental health facilities. This vital service has never fully recovered from cuts made during the previous administration in response to a sagging economy in the early 1990s. Over time, a shortage of mental health services has exhibited itself in the form of more homelessness, more crime and more frustration for the family members of those who are mentally ill. With only 20 beds for severely mentally ill people in all of Southern Nevada, the time has come to begin addressing the shortcomings.

Fortunately, there will be money from the savings to also follow through with the original plan to build a 600-bed work center at Indian Springs for inmates nearing release. There has always been something disturbing about the constancy of prison construction programs. It's nice to see that facilities for education, rehabilitation and mental-health treatment are now overtaking new prisons on the priority list.