FILE NUMBER........

Whereas, In January 1995, Richard Kirkland was sworn into office as

the new Sheriff of Washoe County and thereupon assumed the

responsibility for the operation of the Washoe County Consolidated Jail;

and

Whereas, At the time Sheriff Kirkland began his term of office, the

management and operation of the Washoe County Consolidated Jail

reflected a nationwide management philosophy that adopted a soft

approach to the treatment of criminal offenders based on appeasing inmates

with high levels of benefits; and

Whereas, Sheriff Kirkland envisioned a radical departure from the

flawed national philosophy and quickly undertook to overhaul the system

of managing the inmates of the Jail; and

Whereas, Sheriff Kirkland’s bold new philosophy was premised on the

belief that inmates should be held accountable for their actions, experience

meaningful punishment and repay their debts to society; and

Whereas, Sheriff Kirkland enlisted the support of the employees of the

Jail by outlining the basic approach of the innovative plan and allowing the

employees to help establish the details and methods for carrying out the

plan; and

Whereas, The result of these consolidated efforts on the part of Sheriff

Kirkland and the employees of the Jail was an Inmate Management Plan,

the basic premise of which is that inmates should be treated humanely and

fairly while being held accountable for their actions; and

Whereas, As part of the Inmate Management Plan, an inmate enters the

system with the lowest level of benefits and rights that is constitutionally

permissible such as two visitors per month, no television time, limits on

time spent outside of the cell per day and consumption of meals in the cell;

and

Whereas, The inmate is soon given the option to participate in the Plan

by voluntarily agreeing to adhere strictly to all rules and regulations of the

Jail and to work on various community service projects, such as cleaning

roads, painting schools and maintaining the Jail facility; and

Whereas, Those inmates who volunteer to participate in the Plan earn

such additional privileges as two visitors per week, selected time to watch

television, increased out-of-cell time, consumption of meals in the group’s

dayroom with other inmates, access to counseling and other self-

improvement programs; and

Whereas, A participating inmate who chooses to violate a rule or

regulation is held accountable for that behavior and reverts to the non-

participating status, including the loss of all privileges; and

Whereas, Inmates of the Jail are also given the opportunity to

participate in an aggressive Boot Camp Program, which is called the

"Highly Intensive Supervision Training & Education Program"; and

Whereas, The Program is designed to give an inmate the opportunity to

choose to change his or her lifestyle by progressing through various levels

of the Program which include:

1. Physical and mental conditioning;

2. Educational programs such as instruction regarding résumé

preparation and interviewing techniques for job applicants and classes

geared toward preparing inmates to take tests of general educational

development;

3. Training for and participation in the jail industry programs;

4. Work in the industry for which the inmate has been trained; and

5. Participation in the work-release program; and

Whereas, Under strict supervision, participating work crews from the

Jail manned sandbag lines around the clock in 12-hour shifts during the

severe flooding of the Truckee River in January of 1997 and more recently

these work crews participated in a massive river clean-up project along the

section of the Truckee River that runs through Reno and Sparks for a

combined work effort of 279,570 hours of labor; and

Whereas, The combined result of the Inmate Management Plan and the

Highly Intensive Supervision Training & Education Program so boldly

instituted by Sheriff Kirkland and carried out by the employees of the

Washoe County Consolidated Jail is an opportunity for a sense of

appreciation and increased self-worth by participating inmates that

increases the likelihood that the inmates will leave the Jail well-equipped to

be productive members of society, thereby resulting in a reduction in the

rate of criminal recidivism; now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the Assembly of the State of Nevada, the Senate

Concurring, That the Nevada Legislature recognizes and commends the

outstanding foresight, extraordinary perseverance and innovative efforts of

Sheriff Richard Kirkland and the employees of the Washoe County

Consolidated Jail in developing and carrying out a truly effective system to

manage inmates at the Washoe County Consolidated Jail; and be it further

Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly prepare and transmit a

copy of this resolution to Sheriff Richard Kirkland.

~