NV: $39 Million for Women’s Prison Expansion

With a growth rate 17% higher than last year, Nevada’s women’s prison in North Las Vegas can no longer hold the all of the women incarcerated in the state. When the legislature convenes in 2007, Department of Corrections Director Glen Whorton will request $39 million to expand the North Las Vegas prison by 400 beds. Until that money is approved and construction completed, the state plans to incarcerate women in a wing of a new men’s prison that is scheduled to open in September. The governor projects that $200 million will be needed in the next two years to expand Nevada’s prisons.

This news story is based on an article in the Las Vegas Sun, Voter Excitement Missing. If the link is broken, check the newspaper’s archives.