State prison halfway house has trouble finding a home

Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2003 | 11:07 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- The process of finding a suitable Clark County location to build a halfway house for an initial total of 200 state prison inmates has run into community opposition, delaying construction.

"A lot of people don't want us in the community," said Jackie Crawford, director of the Department of Corrections.

Prison officials told the legislative committee on prison housing Monday that no site has been selected by the Division of Lands.

She said a site could be determined within 30 days but that she was not at liberty to discuss specific locations. She said that most of the land under consideration is near the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

The transitional housing, authorized by the 2003 Legislature, would be called Casa Grande and would provide living quarters to inmates who have been granted parole. They would be housed there for four months to give them a chance to find a job, get training and educational services and locate a home.

Crawford and other prison officials said no sex offenders or violent offenders would be assigned to the center.

"I would not jeopardize the community or this program," Crawford told the committee. "If we had sex offenders, we would not have a Casa Grande. Every community leader would be in opposition."

The inmates, who would come mostly from prison honor camps, would be people convicted of property crimes and nonviolent drug offenses.

Committee members, none of whom are from Clark County, appeared to support the project.

Assemblyman Bernie Anderson, D-Sparks, said: "It's exciting for us to be moving in this direction. It's a fabulous plan. I hope you can get it through the neighborhood."

The prison is looking for 8.4 acres to build the units, which would eventually house up to 400 inmates, provide offices for the prison administration and the state Parole Board and some space for the state Division of Parole and Probation.

Glen Whorton, assistant director for operations of the corrections department, said he would like to see it in an industrial area, close to bus transportation. There would be a 1,500-foot buffer zone between the units and other structures, and a wall would surround the property.

The inmates would get training and counseling and would have to find a job within a month of arriving at Casa Grande. They would go to work during the day and return at night.

Dorothy Nash-Holmes, in charge of mental health and other programs in the corrections department, said the inmates would also be required to meet with family members of victims.

Whorton said the housing would be secure, with frequent inmate counts, drug and alcohol testing and other measures.

Crawford said that the center probably won't open until January 2005 due in part to delays in finding a location.

Crawford said the goal is for 75 to 80 percent of the inmates to find a job and a place to live and then go on parole.

Crawford said the halfway house would look "more like a college campus."

"We will try to blend into the landscape," Crawford said. "We don't want to stand out."

Inmates would reside four to a room and pay $14 a day.

Darrel Rexwinkel, assistant director for finance of the corrections department, said the estimated cost of development is $16.3 million with $2 million of that coming from the federal government. The prison would enter into a lease-purchase arrangement with the contractor to be paid off over 25 years.

The annual operating cost would be $2.2 million before a $1.1 million-a-year lease cost is subtracted.

Under this scenario, the cost per inmate would be $5,372 per year. At High Desert State Prison, the cost per inmate is $11,720 per year; at Southern Desert Correctional Center it is $11,228; and at Southern Nevada Women's Prison it is $10,109.

When the center is expanded to 400 inmates, the cost would drop to $3,202 a year, Rexwinkel said.