Official calls for new facility in Las Vegas for mentally ill criminals

By Cy Ryan (contact)

Tuesday, Aug. 26, 2008 | 5:26 p.m.

CARSON CITY – A Sparks facility for the evaluation and treatment of dangerous mentally ill persons accused of crimes is full and an additional facility is desperately needed in Las Vegas, a state official says.

The state has purchased 10 acres in the northern part of Las Vegas, near Las Vegas Motor Speedway and the Summit View Youth Center, for more than $5 million and has gained zoning approval from the Clark County Commission despite some objections of nearby residents.

Dr. Betsy Neighbors, head of Lake’s Crossing mental offender unit in Sparks, says the facility is “bursting at the seams” and she has urged the state Public Works Board to approve a $49.6 million 50-bed psychiatric hospital for the disordered criminal offenders in Clark County.

“We have some of the most dangerous individuals in the state,” she said, adding it is dangerous to crowd them in a small space in Sparks. It is dangerous to transfer them from Las Vegas to Sparks, Neighbors said.

The Sparks center is licensed for 56 beds and other buildings on the campus of the state’s mental health property are being used to handle the overflow.

The inmates are evaluated and treated to make them mentally capable of standing trial.

The Public Works board is hearing two days of testimony from agencies that are asking for $1 billion in state money for construction projects in the next two years. There is only $495 million available in bonds to take care the requests and there won’t be any cash because of the state’s dire financial straits, according to officials.

Harold Cook, superintendent of the state Division of Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities, told the committee one of his top priorities is a $64 million office building in Sparks to replace eight old buildings. These smaller buildings, he said, are costing $1 million a year in utilities because of single-pane windows and little insulation in the walls.

They are a “health hazard” to those people who work in them, he said. “These buildings are falling down around us.”

The Nevada Higher Education System also presented its priorities for future construction asking for $307 million in state funds. One of the system’s top priorities is getting $29.4 million for construction of the Advanced Clinical Training and Research Center to be built on the Shadow Lane Campus in Las Vegas. It would house the school of medicine and the school of nursing for the university system.

The project was approved for $4.4 million for planning but the $29.4 million was withheld two years ago. If approved by the 2009 Legislature, it should be completed in 2011. It would have to raise $25.8 million in private or federal funds to match the state’s contribution.

The Nevada State College in Henderson is also proposing a $41 million nursing and science building at its Henderson Campus. It would be the second building on campus and $10 million would have to be raised in private or federal funds. A spokesman said that $4.5 million has already been collected.

Another project proposed for Southern Nevada is a $5.8 million expansion of the Veterans Cemetery in Boulder City. It was suggested by the state Division of Veterans Affairs.

The Public Works board will meet in late September to make recommendation to Gov. Jim Gibbons on what projects should be funded in the $495 million available.