Metro claims courhouse

Sunday, Dec. 18, 2005 | 8:08 a.m.

As many attorneys, judges and others to slowly settle into the Regional Justice Center, the fate of the old Clark County Courthouse remains up in the air.

Sheriff Bill Young said the property at 200 S. Third St. continues to be one of the two leading locations he would like to see developed into Metro Police's new downtown headquarters. But he believes the county "truly wants to sell the property."

"Metro has no headquarters, and the nicest way I can put it is that to me it serves as another example of the department being treated like a bastard child by the county and city," Young said. "I just don't think the importance of Metro is always at the forefront of the county and city agenda."

Assistant County Manager Virginia Valentine, however, said that out of respect for Metro's interest in the courthouse site, discussions on selling it have been put on hold.

"We have a commitment to Metro to hold onto the property," Valentine said. "If they've decided on another location for a downtown headquarters, the county will sell the land via an auction process."

Valentine said part of the proceeds from an auction would go to Las Vegas in consideration for the land the city gave the county for the construction of the Regional Justice Center.

Under the terms of the 1997 agreement for the property, the city is entitled to a minimum of one-third of the net proceeds of the sale of the old courthouse.

Young said his department needs a central command building to consolidate functions currently spread across the Las Vegas Valley.

"Right now we are scattered around the valley at 58 locations," he said.

Metro spends almost $500,000 a year on leases, and officers spend precious time shuttling back and forth between various sites and the courts.

Young's office is in Las Vegas City Hall, but his detectives, the evidence vault, ballistics laboratory, human resources and other services are in other offices.

"It defies logic that Metro is still housed in a 70,000-square-foot facility, the same place it was housed when the department was created in 1973," Young said. "We need a 30-year facility, one that not only meets the needs we have today, but the needs of the future."

If the courthouse property is made available to Metro, the sheriff said, the new headquarters would need to be a high-rise facility costing between $150 million and $200 million.

The sheriff said the other site being considered is 10 acres just south of the County Government Center, which would be developed into a "low-rise, more campus styled headquarters."

He said the campus style would allow the construction to be handled in stages.

Young envisions a 350,000-square-foot facility that will enable Metro to house all of the key components of the department under one roof. He said he would like to see the executive staff, human resources, internal affairs, investigative services and possibly a crime lab all housed in the new headquarters.

"The old courthouse or the eight-acre site are both ideal because of the proximity to the jail, Regional Justice Center and the district attorney's office," Young said.

Young expects a developer presentation to be given before the county commissioners next year to put all of the options on the table for consideration.

If everything goes smoothly, he said, ground could be broken within a year and the facility opened in three years.

Matt Pordum can be reached at 474-7406 or at pordum@lasvegassun.com.