Dave Maxwell – Sheriff Kerry Lee is finalizing an agreement for the Lincoln County Detention Center to take inmates from the City of North Las Vegas.
Lincoln County Sheriff Kerry Lee told county commissioners this week the sheriff’s department is finalizing an agreement with both the City of North Las Vegas and the City of Las Vegas to house overflow inmates at the Lincoln County Detention Center.
Currently, North Las Vegas overflow inmates are housed at the Las Vegas Detention Center, but Lincoln County is offering North Las Vegas a less expensive option. Lee said North Las Vegas “is happy because we will be saving them some money for inmate housing, but Las Vegas is not so happy, because they will be losing money.”
Lee said the contract isn’t quite ready yet, “but we are planning to meet with them Oct. 26. It has already been passed by both city councils, but there are still a few issues that need to be ironed out, some language and a few other things.”
Clark County Detention Center is letting their contract with the Lincoln County expire as of the end of October and the department has been looking hard for a replacement.
Lee said he expected there will be a “short downtime” between the end of one contract and full implementation of the new one.
In the meantime, he said the staff has been taking the opportunity to do quite of bit of needed maintenance at the center, “floors, walls, painting, locks, doors, bars, tables, etc. We haven’t been able to do some of this maintenance in the past because we have been so full.”
Still needing repairs are the shower rooms and some work in the kitchen.
Lee said they are working hard to get the detention center in good working order because he said the mayor of North Las Vegas and some of his staff are interested in making a visit.
He noted the transition time between the three agencies, Lincoln County, North Las Vegas and the City of Las Vegas “will take some time to settle in comfortably because we have all three never worked together before.”
As part of the agreement, only North Las Vegas inmates will be sent to Lincoln County, although it is from the detention center in Las Vegas that the inmates will be picked up or returned to.
Commissioner Paul Donohue, who has also been working on the negotiations, said “This will save the City of North Las Vegas upwards of $2.8 million annually.” He said he will be able to give more complete details at the Nov. 14 Commission meeting.
