Lincoln County Detention Center, following the formal signing of a new contract, will soon be receiving overflow inmates from the City of North Las Vegas.
City of North Las Vegas Mayor John J. Lee formally signed the contract between the City and the Lincoln County Detention Center at the county commission meeting in Pioche on Monday.
He and Assistant City Manager Ryann Juden were present.
Lee thanked Commissioner Paul Donohue for initially calling and asking if North Las Vegas could be of help to Lincoln County. As it turned out, he said, ?North Las Vegas was in a situation we couldn?t win and couldn?t afford to lose. His call came as an answer, and it all started to work out. We see this, not so much as helping each other, but rather as making a good business deal with each other, and we feel we are getting a blessing by associating with your county. We?ll probably get even better service than what we are getting in Las Vegas right now. This is going to benefit us for a long period of time, and I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart.?
He also offered commissioners the opportunity to use the offices and facilities at the North Las Vegas City Hall as a place to meet with other interested out of town parties who might be looking to do business in Lincoln County. ?Schedule some of your meetings there, if necessary,? he said.
Juden said the jail contract NLV had with the City of Las Vegas was not a very good one. They were paying a nightly bed rate of $150 per person, paid for the staff and leasing the building. He likened it to someone who ?takes a room at a hotel, and on top of the room rate also has to pay something for the housekeeping staff and you kick in a little bit for the mortgage as well.?
At the Lincoln County Detention Center, the bed rate is $75 per person per day. Juden said that will help NLV take a budget item that was $15.5 million down to around $7 million, ?so it?s a win-win for everybody, a good business decision for all parties involved.?
For the first year or so, Sheriff Lee said, there will be both male and female inmates, ?until we get the male numbers up, and then we will start phasing out the female inmates.?
He expected the numbers at the detention center will be ?fairly low for the first few months, but we figure by next summer we should be at the numbers we want to be at.?
North Las Vegas has agreed to pay for 65 beds nightly, regardless of if they are full or not. The ideal number of inmates the center can handle is about 100.
Lee said the staff at the center is a bit short-handed at the moment, ?but I am not going to fill those positions until the contract is signed and functioning. We probably will hold off on filling all positions until the numbers build up. Might do some hiring though after the first of the year and then later in the summer.?
Repairs and some improvements have been taking place this fall at the detention center, some painting completed, still working on some plumbing and electrical, and improving the shower facilities. ?We?re moving forward with it,? Lee said.
In other news, the sheriff said he has been asked to give an update on the July 13 bombing in Panaca at the annual statewide emergency management leaders meeting Feb. 7 and 8. He said his short presentation ?will basically show the pictures and explain what happened and the 911 calls, what worked well, what didn?t work well and working with the outside agencies.?
At present, no concrete motive for the bombing, which killed alleged bomber
Glenn Franklin Jones has been established. ?I talked to the FBI again a few weeks ago, and they still have no more information,? Lee said.