Editorial: Don’t move center for the criminally insane

Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2004 | 8:55 a.m.

In Nevada a single center holds those people who have been judged mentally incompetent to stand trial on criminal charges, often for murder, rape or armed robbery. They are held at the Lakes Crossing facility in Sparks, a city near Reno, until they are judged fit to stand trial. The 48-bed facility is operating at 90 percent capacity, so the state Public Works Board is exploring whether to expand the existing center in Sparks or build a new one more than 400 miles away in Las Vegas.

The Legislature approved spending $143,000 for a study and preliminary design of a new complex, a study by an architectural firm that also will analyze the feasibility of moving the center to Las Vegas. Carlos Brandenburg, administrator of the state Division of Mental Health and Developmental Services, says he would prefer to expand the Sparks center so he won't have to hire a new staff, which would be the case if a new center was built in Las Vegas.

This shouldn't be a difficult decision to make. The Public Works Board and the Legislature, which ultimately would have to approve any further expenditures, should keep the center where it is. It would be hard justifying, in an era of such austere budgets, the building of a new facility when an existing one could be expanded. The facility in Sparks is well-run and it simply doesn't make sense -- for financial and operational reasons -- to pick up and move to Las Vegas.