By Ed Vogel
Las Vegas Review-Journal
CARSON CITY — The state prisons population has not shown much growth even though crime is on the rise in Clark County, the corrections director told members of the state Board of Prison Commissioners on Tuesday.
Corrections Director Greg Cox said there might be inmate population growth coming, but there is sufficient space to hold all additional inmates.
Cox released information during the meeting that shows the Corrections Department is budgeted for 12,667 inmates this year and for 12,714 in the 2014-15 fiscal year. Total prison expenditures are $275.1 million this year, up 1.34 percent.
But he noted that per inmate costs are $19,907 a year, which he said was “on the low side.” California inmates costs are $24,000 per inmate, he added. Nevada inmates are allotted just $2.54 per day for food, with the same menu used at all prisons.
The discussion on the prison population came during a meeting in which board members approved many regulations, including one that forbids prisons from using restraints on pregnant women in labor or while giving birth. During their pregnancies, restraints can be used on these women only if they are a danger to themselves or others.
Full story: Report: Nevada prisons have sufficient space for inmates