Nye County could reopen Tonopah Detention Center

Nye County officials remain mum on the potential reopening of the Tonopah Detention Center even after a July 17 county Facebook post that was asking for letters of interest.

In an interview with the Pahrump Valley Times, Nye County Sheriff Sharon Wehrly said she isn’t ready to talk about the issue.

“Yes, we are refurbishing it. That’s all I’m going to say at this point, that the jail is being refurbished in hopes that we will be able to reopen it,” Wehrly said.

The Tonopah Detention Center was closed by Nye County commissioners in 2015. Wehrly wouldn’t elaborate on the reason why officials are looking into reopening the facility, but said that Nye County commissioners came up with the idea.

“If it comes to fruition, we will be more than happy to sit down and discuss just exactly what we did, how we did it, and right now, it’s kind of a little bit more than a pie in the sky, but we are preparing just in case we have the opportunity to get it back open. And the county has bought into that, and they are helping us to get it ready to open,” Wehrly said.

Commissioner Wichman

Lorinda Wichman, a Nye County commissioner whose district includes Tonopah, said although the board owns the building where the facility was located, the Nye County Sheriff’s Office is responsible for its staffing and use.

“It was originally presented to the board as a cost-saving measure for the sheriff’s office during the roughest budget year we have experienced,” Wichman said. “It wasn’t closed, it was reduced from a county jail to a simple holding facility while waiting for transport to Pahrump.”

Wichman said she hadn’t seen any savings from the reduction in use since then.

“It seems to me the savings were offset by the additional cost of transport and the cost of personnel were moved to Pahrump,” she said.

The Tonopah Detention Center was in the Nye County government complex at 101 Radar Road in Tonopah.

Chris Mulkerns, Tonopah administrative manager, couldn’t comment on details of the potential reopening.

“If it comes back online, I guess it would be good for Tonopah,” she said.

Facebook post

In a Facebook post on July 17, Nye County initially announced that it was seeking letters of interest in regard to exploring options to reopen the Tonopah Detention Facility.

“In preparation for such, Nye County is accepting letters of interest for the following positions: deputies, detention technicians and kitchen workers,” the post read.

Nye County Spokesman Arnold Knightly declined to comment on the matter last week.

Wichman meanwhile said she hopes that the sheriff is considering the expanded use due to a need in all the northern communities of Nye County.

“This would also reduce the confusion and the transport cost,” Wichman said. “Not only has it created a hardship to the sheriff’s office, the district judges and staff, but also it has cost the Nevada Highway Patrol additional transport costs. Transports remove our patrols from the streets, where they are most needed.”

Geography plays a huge part in the consideration, Wichman said. Tonopah is central to Nye County and also central to Nevada, while Pahrump is on the southernmost tip of Nye County and can be hours away from some parts of Nye County.

Contact reporter Daria Sokolova at dsokolova@pvtimes.com. On Twitter: @dariasokolova77