Jail filling up, suburb to try new approach

Saturday, Oct. 31, 2009 | 2 a.m.

In an effort to save money and reduce crowding in an often filled-up local jail, Henderson is set to establish an Alternative Sentencing Division at its next City Council meeting.

The new division would be responsible for supervising misdemeanor probationers. The aim is to increase their number by reducing the number jailed at the Henderson Detention Center — and to keep better track of them through increased monitoring and a new house arrest program.

“This is a way to make sure that people are doing what they’re supposed to be doing,” said David Hayward, Henderson’s Municipal Court administrator. “We can better ensure that people will comply with their sentence.”

Hayward said the program will be aimed primarily at domestic abusers, as well as some of the more serious drunken driving offenders. The program will mostly apply to misdemeanor offenders sentenced at Henderson Municipal Court, though some from the city’s Justice Court will also be enrolled.

The Henderson City Council is likely to pass the ordinance, which will be addressed at the council’s meeting Tuesday. It is on the meeting’s “consent agenda,” which includes measures the city typically believes are routine and can be voted on simultaneously.

The new division would be responsible for “direct” supervision of probationers by two Henderson marshals newly assigned to monitor them with regular checkups to make sure they follow judges’ orders — and arrest them if they don’t.

The current system has allowed “soft-monitoring” — meaning the burden has been on probationers to check in with the court, usually once every two to three months. And there’s often been little recourse for those who haven’t.

Assuming the ordinance passes, Hayward said, he expects about 80 probationers initially to be under direct supervision.

The new division will also include an increased community service component, as well as renewed efforts to make sure probationers who are assigned to counseling and treatment programs follow through.

Henderson spokeswoman Kathleen Richards said the new division will not require additional hires, a good thing for a city that has experienced such sharp declines in tax revenue.

Hayward said the program would also establish a house arrest system to more closely monitor some probationers who otherwise would have been sentenced to jail. In rare cases, Henderson has referred probationers to Las Vegas’ house arrest program.

Having its own house arrest program would save Henderson money, he said. Instead of paying to house and feed inmates, the city would charge fees to those in the program to pay for equipment and electronic monitoring, to make it a break-even effort.

A house arrest program would also help Henderson avoid overcrowding at its 260-bed detention center, Hayward said.

“We’re getting to the point where the Henderson Detention Center is full pretty regularly,” he said.

Hayward said he didn’t know exactly how many convicts would face house arrest under the new program. If passed, the full measure would take effect Jan. 1, he said.

Allen Lichtenstein, general counsel of the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada, said his group had received only one recent complaint of overcrowding at Henderson’s jail. The ACLU closely monitors jail overcrowding, which has been a recurring problem at the Clark County Detention Center in downtown Las Vegas.

Henderson’s plans for an alternative sentencing division have been long in the making. The city prodded the Legislature during its most recent session, in fact, to change the law, to allow cities to establish such programs.

Discussion: 25 comments so far…

By POWERPLAY

10/31/09 at 8:07 a.m.

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This is not going to work: The only way to protect the general public is to keep criminals locked-up and kept away from having any contact with society. This sounds more like detention hall in high school it's nothing but a big joke.
By KillerB

10/31/09 at 10:25 a.m.

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"This is not going to work: The only way to protect the general public is to keep criminals locked-up and kept away from having any contact with society."

powerplay -- pay attention. The article says: "Hayward said the program will be aimed primarily at domestic abusers, as well as some of the more serious drunken driving offenders."

We're not dealing with "criminals" society needs to be protected from -- "domestic abusers" are commonly arrested because of a he said/she said quarrel and someone called the cops. Because of Biden's VAWA ("Violence Against Women Acts") the entire justice system is funded and trained to treat women as victims and men as victimizers, all based on accusations. It criminalized what has historically been a civil matter. The bottom line is usually pray you don't get the woman in your life mad at you. Especially if she's a drama queen.

You can see some of that here in that case a couple weeks ago of the woman who killed her husband with a shotgun. Arrested, then the DA wouldn't prosecute her, she's free now. The usual lynch mob was mostly quiet instead of screaming to stretch her neck.

The "serious drunken driving offenders" are another matter entirely. But they're not predatory like the REAL criminals are.

For perspective I urge you to check out that new book "Three Felonies a Day" __ http://www.cato-at-liberty.org/2009/09/2...
By 7pesos

10/31/09 at 11:04 a.m.

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i wonder how many convicts are in henderson jail

for smoking a joint.

is that fair incarceration?

let' em go.

they did no one any harm.
By KillerB

10/31/09 at 11:35 a.m.

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7pesos -- your point is one our lawmakers discarded long ago, along with all Constitutional limits. And we collectively let them get away with it.

"The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others." -- Thomas Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginia, 1781-82
By POWERPLAY

10/31/09 at 11:38 a.m.

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Hey KillerB: I do agree with you on the domestic abuse issue but what i want law-enforcement and the courts to do is to put the people first and the criminal last. I do not believe that all rights should be handed out like birthday cake some things in life just need to be earned. Who's next in line for house arrest' shoplifters' taggers' white collar crime' criminal trespassing' petty theft' I mean when do we finely get serious with these people' After they finely work there way up to a 3rd degree felony.
By tvegas

10/31/09 at 11:53 a.m.

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Release non-violent offenders to probation.

Let go some the overpaid benefit seeking correction officers who will bw sucking money from the system forever for 20 years worth of "work"
By KillerB

10/31/09 at 12:14 p.m.

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powerplay -- good to see some thinking behind your posts lately. And you unstuck your caplock key.

My point is how "criminal" is defined. Currently it is meaningless. Example -- Washington recently made buying tobacco online a FELONY. Not a fine, but a high crime that strips one of all rights (including the right to vote and anything connected to weapons and ammunition, then the continued government supervision over every detail of one's life disquised as "probation"). You don't have to dig far to find other utterly unConstitutional and even absurd examples. That's why I keep posting that Jefferson quote. If no one's hurt there is no crime, period. But lawmakers have manufactured victims as an operation of law -- like that recent HUGE debate here over that Henderson soccer coach caught with a 15 you girl.

For perspective I recommend Gene Healy's "Criminalization out of control" _ http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_...

Your point "I do not believe that all rights should be handed out like birthday cake some things in life just need to be earned" is disturbing. Rights are not handed out, we are all born with them, remember? Back to Thomas Jefferson and this nation's REAL founding document, The Declaration of Independence --

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with inherent and inalienable rights; that among these, are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed; that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness."

'nuf said on that!

tvegas -- I agree, mostly. What REALLY needs to happen is some citizens serious about reform, according to the above, peacefully assemble to force repeal of the criminal codes. Government has amply proven it is incapable of reforming itself, it just keeps expanding its power, and always at the expense of our liberties. It's no longer concerned with securing liberty or administering justice now, it's about power and getting the money.
By mred

10/31/09 at 1:53 p.m.

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Free the prisoners and jail the police.
By rejco100

10/31/09 at 3:04 p.m.

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All this does is keep these guys cycling between jail and probation for years, while keeping them forever paying "Alternative Sentencing" fees & fines! The rules & restrictions placed on these guys are so IMPOSSIBLE to follow, not even a non-criminals could follow them!
By wizardofOz

10/31/09 at 3:45 p.m.

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Mr. Skolnick:

You should be ashamed of yourself. Henderson is not a "suburb".

It is a fully functional City, albeit perhaps with a City Council and Mayor(s) firmly in the grasp of developers, real estate people, construction companies, mortgage brokers, loan originators, and others of similiar economic disrepute.

And it is Nevada's second largest City, foreclosures notwithstanding, as well.

To construe Henderson as "suburb" greatly lessens the responsibility of those in elected office within Henderson for their callous and erroneous associations with persons who may have had a hand in the current economic disaster in southern Nevada.

Please, sir, in the future, do not address Henderson as mere "suburb", but as "City", with the full elective office responsibilites that its current status demands.

In the interest of good journalism, please kindly consider printing a retraction or editing the title of this article.

Sincerely.
By wizardofOz

10/31/09 at 3:49 p.m.

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Hey!

We got quickie marriage, quickie divorce, quickie gamblin' losses, quickie prostitution,

why not "Quickie Jail"..?

(And depending on who you live with, house arrest may be WORSE...)
By rejco100

10/31/09 at 4:17 p.m.

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Why bother? Henderson will be closing up real soon; Ghost towns don't need jails!
By LORDGLENMORE

10/31/09 at 6:46 p.m.

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Prison should only be used for violent criminals.
Put them in there and let them punish each other.
By destruct_mutt

10/31/09 at 7:33 p.m.

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I believe it would be wise for one to carefully consider their actions before gathering a group of people together to question anything the Gubment is doing these days.
You could find yourself in the Guantanimo Hilton for acts of terrorism under the "Patriot Act"

I have known people caught in the "Justice System" grinder. Takes a long time to get out of it. For one, going to Jail and doing hard time was actually the way out sooner. So, now maybe this is actually a way of prolonging the sentence. I don't know, no personal experience here.
By KillerB

10/31/09 at 8:44 p.m.

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destruct_mutt -- given the times and how the feds have been acting, good advice. The Patriot Act was designed to do an end run around at least the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments. Funny how the main violators of the Constitutions are those swore oaths to support, uphold and defend them.

A more accurate description is the "Just Us" system.
By gmag39

10/31/09 at 9:05 p.m.

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With Liberty & Justice for those who can afford to pay the freight to the Lobbyists & Lawyers to grease the palms of your favorite politicians & judges.
Get the non-violent offenders, especially the drug offenders, out of the can & into a home confinement program. Let's get real here. A couple of years in prison will NOT assist these folks in becoming self-sufficient, productive members of society.
By KillerB

10/31/09 at 9:31 p.m.

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gmag39 -- I agree, although it would be better to not waste public resources arresting and convicting ANYONE of non-violent crimes, particularly where no one is injured (see my Jefferson quote above).
By gdperson

11/1/09 at 12:05 a.m.

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System is broken it doesn't work period.
By dipstick

11/1/09 at 4:06 a.m.

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henderson should consider housing the overflow of criminals in lake las vegas, their "Mistake by the Lake". theres plenty of empty houses and condos that the correction dept. can utilize. they wont decrease the property value as its already as low as it can go. they can have the perps mow and weed the empty golf courses and apply the labor to community service.
By castle

11/1/09 at 6:34 p.m.

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Killer there are a lot of "attempted" laws that address activity where there is "no harm, no foul
" or as you put it no injury. Just because the guy did not succeed or harm someone does not make it legal.
By KillerB

11/1/09 at 7:52 p.m.

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castle -- you need to educate yourself on the REAL meaning of that loaded little word, "legal."

Example -- any law in violation of Constitutions is automatically void, it's a dead letter. Yet that principle has been obscured under so many legal fictions -- i.e., it takes a court to declare it void and all that implies -- its practically meaningless.

As a mature adult, and a citizen fully vested in his rights and liberties, I will ALWAYS question the use of authority where I see fit. Whether you do or not is entirely up to you. You may wish to go through life like a child doing what you're told to do. I do not.

"... the Athenian lawmaker Solon decreed it a crime for any citizen to shrink from controversy." -- John F. Kennedy, address before the American Newspaper Publishers Association, Waldorf Astoria Hotel, New York City, April 27, 1961
By castle

11/2/09 at 8:14 p.m.

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KillerB, Being a mature adult appears to have little to do with undertanding that not all quotes or opinion are correct. Laws in violation of Constitution are indeed invalid but the problem of who gets to decide that is still within the courts. If you wish to contest all authority even when you realize you are incorrect or at least will fail in the challenge that is your choice, I prefer to select mine that have at least a chance of success.
By KillerB

11/2/09 at 8:48 p.m.

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castle -- don't get me wrong, your post makes sense. But throw into the mix who's the sovereign and who works for the sovereign. Presently it appears government attitude is they are the rulers -- until they want to get re-elected.

The law isn't mysterious, it's just vast and very convoluted. Thank the dark lords of IT government went digital.

Some scholars far better qualified than me are actively questioning what's become of our laws and how they're used against us. On cato.org look for "The Criminalization of Almost Everything," "Three Felonies a Day," and "In the Name of Justice." And just about anything written by Judge Andrew P. Napolitano (I'm reading "Constitutional Chaos" and "The Constitution in Exile," looking for "A Nation of Sheep").

Personally, I prefer starting with the organic laws as a base reference-- Constitutions, Declaration of Independence, etc. They are the source code of all our laws. Based on that I will always the exercise of authority when it looks wrong to me.