Local angle
In January, the Board of Clark County Commissioners approved a request from Sheriff Garry Lucas to add two jail discharge planners, who will help inmates arrange to get help for mental illnesses and chemical dependency upon release.
In 2012, Lucas said the jail has been viewed as a warehouse for the mentally ill and pledged to commissioners he would step up efforts to identify at-risk inmates, increase training for custody officers on how to best handle mentally ill inmates and make sure inmates who leave jail have a discharge plan to ease their transition back into the community.
The $148,500 annual cost for the discharge planners comes from sales tax revenues dedicated to treatment programs.
In 2012, commissioners approved $545,000 to upgrade the jail to help prevent suicide. That work includes replacing all 42 shower heads with shorter-nozzled models, and replacing at least 356 protruding fire sprinklers, which was expensive because it required cutting into walls and moving pipes.