Officials Ask for Las Vegas Federal Detention Center

LAS VEGAS – Local jails are overcrowded, say federal and local officials, and a new federal detention center could fix that problem. However, the Bureau of Prisons has no current plans to build a Metropolitan Detention Center in Las Vegas, despite the fact that U.S. Marshals and Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers hold up to 600 prisoners a day in Las Vegas.

Federal officials contract with the North Las Vegas and Las Vegas city jails to house the inmates at a cost of $72 a day. But those prisoners take up space that Las Vegas police need to house their own prisoners. The Clark County jail is usually about 300 inmates over its 2,860-bed capacity, forcing police to send those inmates to city jails, as well. Jails in Henderson, Las Vegas, North Las Vegas and Mesquite, together with the county jail, provide about 5,100 beds, and 4,500 of those are usually filled. The Las Vegas city facility holds 1,200 inmates and is usually at or above capacity.

The last Metropolitan Detention Center was built in Hawaii in 2001. Centers are built based on need, but although Las Vegas has a demonstrated need, the current federal budget lacks any money to build one.