Justice Center move-in may begin soon

Sito Negron

Tuesday, Sept. 7, 2004 | 8:37 a.m.

Las Vegas may issue a temporary certificate of occupancy by the end of the month for the Regional Justice Center, a step that would allow the four- to six-month move-in process to begin.

In addition, the city is dropping its proposal to pull its municipal courts from the project. The city has put in about $10 million of its $32 million share of the project, City Manager Doug Selby said. In spring he began talking to county officials about whether the city could recoup its money, either in cash or through a land trade, and build its own municipal courts.

"We basically reached the conclusion it wasn't practical or feasible for us to walk away from a $10 million investment, and our initial belief that the county needed more space wasn't true," Selby said.

He said that the city now is trying to figure out ways to keep its maintenance costs down. The city currently spends about $500,000 to $600,000 a year on maintenance, a figure Selby said could triple in the new building.

"The county has agreed to look at those costs and see if there's a fair allocation for the city of Las Vegas," Selby said.

The Clark County Regional Justice Center downtown was to cost $170 million and open in 2002. Not only has it been delayed, but it is over budget, at $185 million.

The 17-story facility is meant to place city and county courts in the same building, just down the street from the federal courts building. Municipal courts and justice courts are to occupy the lower floors, and district courts are to be in the middle and upper floors. The highest floor goes to the Nevada Supreme Court.

The city's portion of the project was built to include six municipal courtrooms and one traffic courtroom, two unfinished courtrooms for future expansion, and offices for the city attorney and his staff, marshals, court intake, a fines and collections department and administration.

Clark County Manager Thom Reilly said he doesn't have an opening date yet, "but it's fair to say if you go through it, it looks complete."

Reilly said that the bonding company on the project went through the building Wednesday. "The punch list (itemized accounting of work completed) should be done at the end of the month, and then if they get the temporary occupancy permit we can start to move in."

Reilly said that a temporary occupancy permit means that fire and safety issues have been addressed. The move-in prior to a final occupancy permit would take four to six months, he said.

"It's pretty detailed who moves in first and when it happens," he said.

Reilly said when he spoke with project manager Randy Walker, "It was one of the first conversations I had with him that he was fairly optimistic."