(KTNV) — A medium-security correctional center in Carson City will be shut down in an effort to "increase safety and security and reduce overtime," the Nevada Department of Corrections announced on Monday.
NDOC described it as a "sustained temporary closure" of Warm Springs Correctional Center.
Inmates from the correctional center will be moved to the Northern Nevada Correctional Center, beginning in December, NDOC's spokesperson said. "Some may be classified and moved to other institutions, as appropriate."
The department stressed that "no jobs will be lost, and employees will not be transferred" outside the region, unless they volunteer.
Three correctional institutions in northern Nevada — Warm Springs, Northern Nevada, and Lovelock — have vacancies averaging 47% and 52%, according to the NDOC. Staff at those institutions average between 25 and 35 overtime hours per pay period, officials said.
NDOC estimates temporarily closing Warm Springs Correctional Center will save the state approximately $14 million per year.
"Placing WSCC into a sustained temporary closure and distributing personnel to other institutions will allow for safer conditions for both staff and offenders," said William Gittere, acting director of the NDOC. "The increase in staffing at the other institutions will improve our ability to meet Constitutional and state law requirements related to the effective management of the offender population. Decreased overtime directly improves work stress and fatigue, which will be a key factor in the improvement to the quality of life and retention of staff."
Gittere was appointed acting director of the department after his predecessor was asked to resign in the wake of a recent prison break in Indian Springs.
NDOC says the Warm Springs Correctional Center was built in 1961 and operated as the Nevada Women's Corrections Center until 1997, when it was converted to a medium-security men's prison.
