Wednesday, January 4, 2012

150 Year Old Prison Closes

From the LVRJ: Correctional officers hugged each other, shouted "goodbye NSP" and shed tears as they trudged out of the Nevada State Prison for the last time Wednesday afternoon.
For 150 years, inmates have been housed in the sandstone prison, about two miles east of the Capitol, that opened two years before Nevada obtained statehood. That legacy will end Thursday when the final seven inmates are moved to other prisons, said a correctional officer who declined to give his name.
"It's over," the officer said. "We're done."
The corrections officer said the inmates will be gone and only four or five officers will report for duty Thursday, though the Department of Corrections would not confirm this. The officers' primary job will be preparing the facility for closure. At peak capacity, the prison held 821 inmates.
http://www.lvrj.com/news/officers-bid-farewell-to-state-prison-136707043.html
The prison has a unique history- from 1932-1967, the prison had it's own casino and you really didn't want to cheat in this casino.
It's too bad that the prison is closing because it will have a financial impact in the Carson City area. On the other hand, we, in Nevada, have so much empty prison space, we should be renting out the space. We have a large prison in Jean, just north of the NV-CA border near Las Vegas that is mostly closed, a boys prison by Nellis AFB that is closed. Clark County has a large jail that sits empty, except now because of renovations at CCDC. We also have some smaller prisons and prison camps that are closed.
Maybe we can reopen the Nevada State prison for all the Obama administration criminals? But it may not be enough.

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