Criminally insane center in LV eyed

Friday, Feb. 6, 2004 | 11:23 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- The state Public Works Board plans to examine whether it would make more sense to build a new center for the criminally insane in Las Vegas instead of expanding the existing one in Sparks.

The board on Thursday approved the selection of KGA Architecture of Las Vegas to conduct a study of the issue.

The Legislature set aside $143,000 for the study and preliminary design of a new complex. The current Lakes Crossing in Sparks has 48 beds to handle those who have been judged mentally incompetent to stand trial on criminal charges and it has to serve the whole state.

Carlos Brandenburg, administrator of the Division of Mental Health and Developmental Services, said Lakes Crossing is operating at 90 percent of capacity.

Brandenburg said he preferred to expand the Sparks center because he would not have to hire a whole new staff, as he would if a second complex were built in Las Vegas. But KGA Architecture will study the pros and cons.

Gus Nunez, deputy manager of the Public Works Board, said if KGA Architecture does a good job on the preliminary design, the company could be hired to complete the design.

But the 2005 Legislature would have to provide the money for expansion or a new center.

Brandenburg said the Legislature helped relieve some of the pressure on housing at Lakes Crossing. The former law required a sanity commission to come to the center and examine inmates to determine if they were mentally competent to stand trial.

That took weeks or months to get the report back from the doctors, Brandenburg said. The law was changed to allow those at Lakes Crossing to make those determinations when a person is capable of standing trial.

The staff at the center in Sparks was in a better position to judge whether a person is sane enough to stand trial, he said.

He said the majority of those committed to the center are accused of violent felonies, such as murder, rape or armed robbery. They are held there until they are declared competent to stand trial.