LV mental facility for defendants a priority

Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2005 | 7:42 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Constructing a mental health center in Las Vegas for criminal defendants to receive treatment may be a top building priority in the 2007 Legislature.

"It's time to look at constructing something in Southern Nevada," Assemblywoman Chris Giunchigliani, D-Las Vegas, said recently before the Legislative Interim Finance Committee.

She said the need is growing for a center in Las Vegas so that inmates would be close to their families and rehabilitation and it would reduce the transportation costs.

Her comment came shortly before the committee approved $1.4 million from its contingency fund to expand facilities in Sparks to handle a growing number of inmates who are committed to the state hospital, Lake's Crossing, until they are judged mentally competent to stand trial.

The Nevada Disability Advocacy and Law Center sued the state, complaining that those accused of crimes and judged incompetent to stand trial languish in county jails before being admitted to Lake's Crossing for treatment.

Lake's Crossing will be expanded from 48 beds to 56. Also 20 beds at the Dini-Townsend state mental hospital in Sparks will be available for those who are judged incompetent.

The Dini-Townsend facility was built to take care of the mentally ill who were civilly committed, not those accused of a crime.

Assemblywoman Sheila Leslie, D-Reno, said, "I hope we can build a Lake's Crossing in Las Vegas. It's time."

Carlos Brandenburg, administrator of the state Division of Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities, told the committee he had requested money in 2004 for either expanding Lake's Crossing in Sparks or building a new facility in Las Vegas. But his request was not recommended by the state Public Works Board to the 2005 Legislature.

Brandenburg, citing an increase in the number of criminal defendants being judged mentally incompetent to stand trial in Clark County, said there is no space at Lake's Crossing to treat them.

Brandenburg said a new mental health treatment center wouldn't be ready for four to six years because it would have to be approved by the 2007 Legislature. The new 150-bed mental health facility being built in Las Vegas is for those who are civilly committed.

Some of those waiting for admission to Lake's Crossing are spending months in the county jail.

U.S. Magistrate Robert Johnston said as of Oct. 24 there were 23 criminal defendants in jails waiting to be transferred to Sparks.

"The delay that exists for criminal defendants to receive restorative treatment from defendants (the state Mental Health Division) likely constitutes a violation of their substantive and procedural due process rights," Johnson said.

Chief Deputy Attorney General Cynthia Pyzel said allocating the $1.4 million would show the judge the "good faith" of the state in acting to handle the problem. Pyzel said a court in Oregon ordered the state to take the criminal offenders into mental treatment in seven days.

Assembly Minority Leader Lynn Hettrick, R-Minden, said the $1.4 million won't take care of the cost of the suit and any fees that attorneys may win.

The finance committee also on Wednesday allocated $1 million from its contingency fund to move about 350 employees out of the Kinkaid Building in Carson City to leased space. The building, two blocks east of the capitol, has structural deficiencies.

The original request was for $4 million, but that included $2.2 million to demolish the building. The state Board of Examiners eliminated that proposal, and the 2007 Legislature will be asked for money to tear down the building and build a new headquarters for the state Department of Health and Human Services.

Health and Human Service director Mike Willden said the move would be completed in April or May because improvements and changes have to be made to the two buildings.

The state Division of Child and Family Services, now housed in cottages used by the defunct Children's Home, will also be moving to the same building.

Sen. Bob Coffin, D-Las Vegas, said the 2007 Legislature should also look at demolishing the Blaisdel Building, adjacent to the Capitol.

"It's the ugliest building in Nevada," Coffin said.

He called it the "only blot on the scene." It presently houses the budget division and other administrative agencies.

"The Blaisdel will have to go," he said.

Cy Ryan may be reached at (775) 687-5032 or at cy@lasvegassun.com