Jail proposal committee seeks public input

By Steve Moyer

Nevada Daily Mail

A new jail proposal is in the works and the planning committee for the project is seeking public input. Circuit Judge James Bickel said he looks forward to hearing what the people would like in a new facility.

"We're hoping to get a lot of citizen input," Bickel said. "To me this has the most utmost importance of any projects I see on the horizon."

Bickel said the present facility is in bad enough condition that the county could be ordered to do something by the courts, and if that were to happen, the citizens would have no input into implementing the ordered changes -- they would just have to pay for them.

"The facility is totally inadequate and I would hope that we would be the ones to decide what should replace it," Bickel said. "There have been jurisdictions where the courts have ordered changes."

Vernon County Presiding Commissioner David Darnold said it is up to the people of Vernon County to decide how to proceed.

"The ultimate thing you put before the voters is that if we're going to do this, we need some funding," Darnold said.

Darnold said the county has been spending a lot of money to send prisoners out of the county and that building a new facility could actually be cheaper for the county.

"We're spending so much farming the prisoners out, that it just makes more sense to spend the money to build a jail. It would save money in the long run," Darnold said.

Officials are focusing on simply a jail, not a new justice center as had been proposed at one time.

"I'm looking at just a jail facility -- in the past some of the plans may have been a bit grand," Bickel said. "The problem with the other, that I hadn't anticipated, is that unless you include the clerk's offices there would be a problem getting the needed files to the courtroom."

Vernon County Sheriff Ron Peckman agreed with Bickel.

"I think he's absolutely right on that," Peckman said. "I think Vernon County would be better off with just a jail. We don't want a Taj Mahal, we want something that's workable, something that meets our needs."

Peckman said the new jail would offer benefits to the county's residents beyond just adding space -- everyone would be safer with a new facility.

"It would improve the safety of employees, of the inmates and of the county," Peckman said.

Peckman said that when the committee went on a tour of jails in the region, the jails ranged from "pits" to fancy new facilities.

"We went on the tour of the local jails and we saw everything from real pits to fancy ones," Peckman said. "I would consider the Cass County Jail to be a Taj Mahal type -- we don't need that. Something in between would be just right for us."