Youth prison to reopen Jan. 26

Friday, Dec. 26, 2003 | 11:38 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- After being closed for nearly two years, the state-owned Summit View male juvenile detention center in North Las Vegas will be reopened Jan. 26 and will take in 24 boys the first week.

"We intend to keep (the inmates) engaged and busy," newly hired superintendent Robert W. McLellan said. "There will be little unstructured time."

From 6:15 a.m. until lights-out at 10 p.m. there will be schooling and a variety of programs with only a minimum of free time, he said.

Classes at the facility will begin Jan. 29.

The $14 million, 96-bed center originally opened in June 2000 with Correctional Services Corp. hired by the state to operate the facility. But there were problems, including escapes and sex between female staff and inmates. The private company pulled out of the contract in January 2002, complaining it could not make money. Except for a maintenance staff, Summit View has been vacant since March 2002.

The 2003 Legislature approved the recommendation of Gov. Kenny Guinn that Summit View should be run by the state, rather than a private company.

State Human Resources Director Mike Willden said the first group of inmates will come from county juvenile facilities, mostly in Clark County. He said Nevada delinquents placed in out-of-state facilities would not be brought back immediately unless their treatment programs are completed.

McLellan, who comes from Montana, has hired Audrey Fetters from Washington state as his assistant superintendent.

McLellan is a former chief of police in two cities in Montana, a deputy sheriff in Colorado and was deputy director of care and custody of Pine Hills Youth Correction Facility in Miles City, Mont., before taking the Nevada job.

Before coming to Nevada, Fetters was juvenile court administrator and administrator of the juvenile detention center in Yakima, Wash. She has a background in clinical social work.

The typical length of stay for a juvenile at the facility is expected to be nine to 12 months, though chronic offenders may stay longer, McLellan said. Inmates can be held at the facility until they turn 20.

The center has an authorized staff of 85 and McLellan said he will have 44 on board when it opens next month. The staff will be augmented as more youths are accepted.

Willden said he intends to follow the guidelines of the American Corrections Association, which call for one staff member for every eight inmates during the day and a 1-16 ratio at night.

The Clark County School District will provide the schooling. Willden said the state has hired nurses, mental health counselors, security staff, cooks and others.

Reveille is planned for 6:15 a.m. for the inmates, who will do calisthenics, shower and clean their individual rooms before going to breakfast. School starts at 8:50 a.m. and goes until 11:30 a.m. when there is a break for lunch. The boys are back in class from 12:30 to 3:10 p.m.

After school there will be group sessions aimed at changing the behavior of the inmates and recreation. McLellan said there will be at least an hour of "large muscle exercise" that will include such sports as football and soccer.

The inmates will use a gymnasium that has never been used. It was completed after the private company pulled out and the center was put in mothballs. There will be a new soccer field and weight room, Willden said.

After dinner the boys will have one to two hours of leisure time to write letters, work on their school courses or do other activities. There will also be mental health counseling. A "wrap-up" session will follow to allow inmates to talk about the day's activities.

At 7 p.m. there are more group sessions for counseling on drug, alcohol and health problems. And at 9 p.m. the juveniles are put in their rooms and the lights are turned out at 10 p.m.

Willden said the inmates will be serious offenders, many of whom "flunked out of Elko and Caliente," the other two state-operated training centers for delinquents.

Willden said Summit View "gives us another tool" in the placement of youngsters but the state may still contract with private companies for some. After closure in 2002, the state sent the youths to Rite of Passage in Northern Nevada or to a facility in Tennessee.

"This is high security -- high fences and razor wire. And there will be lockdown," he said. Willden said he doesn't want to see the security lapses that plagued the center when a private company operated it.

The facility is scheduled to be in full operation by August 2004. Its budget for next fiscal year is $5.2 million.