Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

LOOKING IN ON: COURTS:

Lawyers may get millions more for courthouse fight

Is it time to consider whether the Regional Justice Center is permanently flawed?

The elevators still break down regularly, despite the hope of county maintenance officials that the nuisance would have been resolved by now, and the source of a nauseating stink on the lower level remains a mystery — among other lingering problems at the courthouse.

Putting aside those complaints for a moment, the most pressing issue for county leaders today is how much to spend on new legal bills in their years-long battle with AF Construction Co. Inc. of Las Vegas. The Regional Justice Center opened 3 1/2 years late and reportedly about $15 million over budget.

The district attorney’s office is recommending county commissioners approve paying law firm Rooker Rawlins LLP up to $15 million — yes, the same amount as the budget overruns. If the commissioners approve the plan today, it will be the fourth amendment to an October 2005 retainer agreement with that firm regarding the justice center.

County officials reached Monday were unsure what the total legal bill is thus far; those figures are listed in documents currently tucked away in arbitration between the sides, they said.

The county and AF are seeking tens of millions from each other. Managers with AF are asking for more than $70 million. The county wants more than $50 million, which would represent damages for what officials allege was AF’s failure to comply with building plans and complete the project.

Courthouse-related headaches also abound for county maintenance officials.

One of the two elevators intended for inmates is busted again. Building operators say they expect the elevator to be back in service today.

When one of the inmate elevators is out of commission, bailiffs sometimes resort to using one of the court staffs’ two already crowded elevators to transport inmates from a holding cell below the justice center up to the courtrooms, which are divided among 17 floors.

That’s assuming they’re operational. Also last week, one of the employees’ elevators was broken. It returned to service midday Monday. Yet District Court Judge Stewart Bell opted for the public elevators Monday to head up to the 17th floor.

The elevators may be a mess, but there’s some optimism among staffers in the bad check unit (in the courthouse’s lower lobby) that the origin of that regular obnoxious odor could soon be identified. The stink is most prevalent down there.

On Monday, the county temporarily relocated its Real Property Management Department around the corner from its permanent digs, which are next to the bathrooms. This move comes more than a week after those bathrooms were closed down for repairs.

• • •

The county commissioners’ docket for today is court-heavy.

They also are scheduled to consider whether to approve a $400,000 settlement with a woman who alleges a former investigator in the DA’s office forced her to have sex with him.

Love Holloway also alleges past and current officials in the DA’s office knew of similar complaints by women against former investigator Peter Baldonado. He pleaded the equivalent of no contest in April 2004 to one count of coercion and another of misconduct.

County finance officials recommend commissioners accept the settlement to “avoid exposure to greater damage sums following a jury trial, as well as avoid further costs and legal expenses,” according to an item on today’s agenda.

• • •

The days of Las Vegas attorneys’ rushing assistants north to file Supreme Court submissions in Carson City before the close of business are long over.

When the Regional Justice Center opened in October 2005, the court placed a drop box on the 17th floor, which houses a courtroom for the justices.

Now some attorneys don’t have to leave their offices to file briefs and complaints with the state’s high court.

The court is testing an e-filing program with public lawyers handling criminal fast-track cases in Clark and Washoe counties. Ultimately, the court hopes to allow e-filing of all notices of appeals in criminal appeals, as well as to enable attorneys to submit trial court records and transcripts.

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