State budget :

Belt-tightening puts crimp on officers’ monitoring of felons

Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2008 | 2 a.m.

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Carson City — Budget cuts have led to limits on how many miles Nevada’s parole and probation officers can drive as they check up on felons.

The state Parole and Probation Division on Sept. 20 placed a 700-mile monthly limit on the agency’s vehicles in Clark and Washoe counties.

Assembly Speaker Barbara Buckley, D-Las Vegas, who revealed the limit during a Reno TV interview Monday, called it “disturbing news.” Buckley said she had received an e-mail over the weekend indicating a quarter of the agency’s vehicles had reached the mileage limit by Oct. 2 and, under the policy, couldn’t be driven again until Oct. 19.

The agency has 201 vehicles.

A spokesman for the Law Enforcement Department couldn’t confirm Buckley’s claim, but said the mileage limit is not endangering the public.

Officers visit those on parole or probation at their homes and workplaces to verify they’re abiding by the terms of their parole or probation, including that they live at the addresses provided to the state.

“This forces us to be creative,” said Daniel Burns, spokesman for the Law Enforcement Department. “The public is not going to be less safe.”

Officers might have to double up if they’re traveling to the same neighborhood, or switch to another vehicle in the fleet that has not reached its 700-mile limit. Some officers who take their cars home at night might have to start their workday from their driveway instead of traveling to the office first, Burns said.

Individuals on parole and probation are “still going to be supervised,” he said.

The division is, however, planning to ask the Legislative Interim Finance Committee for an emergency appropriation at the committee’s next meeting, Nov. 20.

Budget cuts have left 92 vacancies in the Parole and Probation Division, which has an authorized staff of 532. The finance committee could tell the division to use the savings from the unfilled positions to offset its limits on travel, rather than dip into the state’s emergency funds.