Staffing Constraints Have Forced the Temporary Closure of Carson City’s Warm Springs Correctional Center

NEVADA – The Nevada Department of Corrections announced on Monday that the Warm Springs Correctional Center in Carson City would be closed temporarily to improve safety and security and cut down on overtime.

According to NDOC, beginning in December, nearly all inmates at Warm Springs Correctional Center will be relocated to the nearby Northern Nevada Correctional Center in Carson City, without any loss of privileges or programming.

Acting Director William Gittere explained that closing WSCC for an extended period of time and reallocating staff to other facilities will improve safety for everyone involved. With more people working in the other facilities, we can better manage the inmate population as required by the Constitution and state law. Reducing extra hours has a direct positive effect on reducing work-related stress and exhaustion, which is crucial to enhancing employee well-being and retaining talented workers.

According to NDOC, there will be no layoffs, and staff will not be moved to other regions unless they choose to move.

Nevada’s state prisons have been suffering from a severe lack of staff. A government representative reported that vacancy rates in northern Nevada range from 47% to 52% on average.

The strategy is expected to save the state about $14 million per year in overtime and operational expenditures, according to the agency.

Warm Springs opened in 1961 as the Nevada Women’s Correctional Center and remained in that capacity until 1997, when it was transformed into a medium-security men’s prison.

The NDOC has reaffirmed that the facility will be temporarily closed. A date for reopening has not been announced.

Credits: Fox Reno