LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — The Nevada Department of Corrections plans to close two conservation camps by July 1.
Department officials cited financial concerns as one of the reasons why they are closing those facilities.
"As a greater number of offenders qualify for house arrest and other transitional programs, the NDOC determined the cost of keeping these locations open was no longer beneficial," director James Dzurenda stated in a press release announcing the closures.
Conservation camps are minimum-custody institutions. The NDOC says current offenders housed at Carlin Conservation Camp and Jean Conservation Camp will be relocated to other correctional facilities before June 30.
As for staff, NDOC officials say they will be given a list of all NDOC positions and locations they can transfer to as well as other available positions with the State of Nevada.
According to the NDOC, the Carlin property will be given to the City of Carlin, and the Jean closure is expected to have no impact on the unincorporated town of Jean.
Channel 13 reached out to the NDOC to learn how many offenders and staff members are currently at each facility, how much money it costs to operate each facility, and what will happen to offenders assigned to these camps. As of the time this article was published, we have not heard back.
According to the NDOC's website, there were originally 10 conservation camps in locations across the state. The department previously closed facilities in Ely, Humboldt, Silver Springs, Tonopah, and Wells. With Carlin and Jean closing, that means Pioche, Stewart, and Three Lakes are the final conservation camps that are still operational.
The NDOC has been looking for ways to lower costs due to a major increase in staff overtime as well as the increasing number of lawsuits filed against the department, which are being settled with taxpayer dollars.
WATCH: How much money are Nevada taxpayers shelling out to settle inmate lawsuits?
NDOC officials are looking for other ways to save money to help with things like drugs making their way into prisons, which has seen a recent spike.
"In 2025, there 76 deaths, total, in the Department of Corrections. Sixteen have been identified as suspected or confirmed overdoses. Of those suspected or confirmed overdoses, 15 out of 16 have come back to a drug called K2 and spice, which is a synthetic cannabonoid," NDOC Director James Dzurenda said during the last Board of Prison Commissioners meeting. "In 2025, we had 248 incidents [with] K2 and spice suspected overdoses."
The union is looking at several options to address the problem, including a canine program.
"In the prison system, we use the canines not only for drug detection but also to find cell phones which inmates are using to conduct business," correctional officer Larry Nava previously told lawmakers. Nava said the canine program would be funded by donations and "cost taxpayers absolutely nothing."
Another idea being discussed is scanning physical copies of mail.
"This will help stop that," said Dshamba Prater, union secretary and a retired NDOC employee who worked for the department for 20 years. "With the dogs being there also, this would be like a double whammy to stop drugs from entering prisons."
The NDOC is hosting a public workshop to get feedback on proposed regulation changes, which would allow mail to be digitally scanned to tablets that offenders already have. The workshop has been scheduled for Wednesday, April 22 at 9 a.m. at the State Capitol Building's Guinn Room, which is located at 101 N. Carson Street in Downtown Las Vegas.
If you can't make it to the meeting and would like to listen in, you can call 1-775-321-6111 and enter the meeting ID: 621 762 994#.
You can also submit written comments to the Board of State Prison Commissioners by emailing bopc@doc.nv.gov by 9 p.m. on the day before the workshop. That is to give the board enough time to review your comments. Also, make sure to include the commenter's full name.