NV panel to again consider prison staff furloughs

The Associated Press

Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2009 | 5:49 a.m.

The state Board of Examiners will again consider whether prison staff should be exempt from mandated furloughs.

Department of Corrections Director Howard Skolnik is requesting exemptions for guards and other essential personnel through the end of the biennium that runs through June 2011.

The Board of Examiners, comprised of the governor, attorney general and secretary of state, meets Tuesday in Carson City.

State lawmakers ordered workers to take one unpaid day off a month to save about $330 million over the two-year budget cycle. Legislators allocated $4 million for public safety exemptions, but exempting prisons would cost about twice that much.

Skolnik has said requiring officers to take furloughs would further strain his understaffed agency and jeopardize staff and inmate safety.

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