Editorial: Jailhouse politics

Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2007 | 7:15 a.m.

Former Sheriff Bill Young says his idea to solve jail overcrowding was killed by "sheer politics."

Young had proposed building a jail from modular buildings for low-level offenders near the county's wastewater treatment plant. That was a year and a half ago, in the middle of a heated primary for a Clark County Commission seat. Nearby residents were upset that the county might build a jail there, and both candidates came out against the proposal.

As Tony Cook reported in Monday's Las Vegas Sun, the county has chosen to lease a yet-to-be-built 1,000-bed bricks-and-mortar facility near Nellis Air Force Base as a way to ease overcrowding at the Clark County Detention Center.

Unfortunately, the plan will be costly and will not fully address the problem.

The county will pay $11.3 million a year in rent, with the cost going up 6 percent every two years, for a total of $528 million over the life of the 30-year lease. The county will have the option of buying the jail after 10 years at market value.

The facility will fall far short of meeting the county's needs if projections hold true. According to county estimates, there will be 600 more inmates than beds in 2010 when the new jail is filled, and that does little to relieve the current problem. Last year the county jail's average inmate count exceeded its designed capacity by nearly 700.

Jail overcrowding is not just a threat to the safety of jail guards and inmates ; it also comes with a cost - the county is liable for what happens there. In addition, the county currently pays other cities in the Las Vegas Valley to house inmates it cannot stuff into the jail and releases lesser offenders early.

The commission's "solution" to jail overcrowding is largely emblematic of the way government leaders here have operated. Tough choices that would improve Nevada are bypassed for politically expedient options that do little more than push the problem into the future. What a shame.