Board again consider closing Nevada State Prison

CARSON CITY (AP) - The state Board of Prison Commissioners will again consider Gov. Jim Gibbons' plan to close the 140-year-old Nevada State Prison in Carson City.

Gibbons argues he has sole authority to order the closure that would save the state about $3 million a year. The commission meets Tuesday in Carson City.

Department of Corrections Director Howard Skolnik backs Gibbons' plan to close it.

Skolnik says he'd shut the prison down over the next few months and move inmates to other institutions. He says its employees are needed to fill staffing gaps at other prisons since mandatory day-a-month furloughs began July 1.

Gibbons is chairman of the prison commission that includes Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto and Secretary of State Ross Miller. Gibbons is the lone Republican on the board.