The Clark County Jail is straining under outdated infrastructure and chronic overcrowding, and David Shook, Director of Jail Services, says a full-scale remodel and expansion will bring the facility in line with the community’s needs.
The jail, originally built in 1984 with a capacity for 300 prisoners, currently holds 491 beds. Two expansions are underway: one for the existing H-Pod to accommodate 56 total beds, including capacity for MOUD (methadone opioid use disorder) treatment, scheduled for completion in 2025. The J-Pod, built to open in 2026, will hold an additional 64 medium-security beds. But Shook says those expansions won’t solve the problem.
“That’s not gonna be plenty at all,” Shook said during a recent tour of the jail. “The law enforcement out there are needing and wanting to bring more people to us … this is a multi-generational project. This isn’t just today’s project, this is for you and your kids, your grandkids and so forth.”
County officials have previously estimated the jail needs to grow to more than 850 beds to alleviate overcrowding. Earlier this year, the Clark County Council directed staff to bring back funding options for a major renovation and expansion. One version of that plan carries a $471.5 million price tag and would add about 192 general population beds and 250 specialized beds for medical and mental health needs, along with major renovations. A scaled-down remodel without bed expansion was estimated at $330 million.
Inside the jail, Shook pointed out bottlenecks that have plagued the facility for decades. One of the worst choke points is in booking, where officers sometimes wait up to two hours to process arrests because there is only one intake door and one processing station.
“In many modern facilities, there’s a flow,” Shook said. “Someone comes in, starts the process here, then moves to the next stage, so the next officer can bring their arrestee in. We don’t have that. Everything happens in the same spot, and if something goes wrong, the whole jail shuts down.”
That slows down officers who could otherwise be back on the streets. Shook said an officer spending 90 minutes waiting to process a single arrest is “too long” for a growing county.
Medical and mental health care stretched thin
The jail’s medical and mental health space is another priority. The facility currently has just 12 official medical beds to serve a population that averages more than 460 inmates daily.
“We have some really significantly mentally ill people in the general population,” Shook said. “It’s not enough. What we need is an acute mental health medical wing.”
He added that more than half the jail’s population cycles out within 72 hours. A planned “transitional housing” area would keep short-term inmates near booking rather than sending them into the general population, a move Shook said would help prevent contraband and reduce disruptions.
Strained spaces for attorneys and professionals
Beyond housing, the jail has only four small rooms where attorneys can meet with clients or where professional visitors can conduct interviews. With hundreds of inmates and limited court schedules, those spaces are constantly oversubscribed.
“Sometimes they don’t get to use those rooms because the attorneys take them up,” Shook said. “They’ve got to use non-contact [phones behind glass], which really isn’t conducive. In the new renovation project, we’re going to have more spaces for this kind of communication.”
When fights or disruptions break out, even those limited spaces can be taken offline. Shook said it forces staff to juggle, cancel, or delay legal and professional visits, adding more strain on inmates, attorneys, and the justice system.
As county leaders consider a multimillion-dollar bond or levy to finance the project, Shook says the public should see it as a public safety investment.
“This law and justice ecosystem is behind the times,” he said. “Whether it’s the courts, law enforcement, the jail system, the prosecutors, defense attorneys — the system hasn’t kept up with the growth of the community.”
The county council is expected to decide in 2026 whether to submit a funding measure to voters, following a $120,000 market research study that gauges public opinion. The survey results are expected to help determine not just whether voters would support the project, but also how large a bond the county should seek.
Until then, Shook says his staff will continue to do the best they can with limited resources.
“Every nook and cranny has something crammed into it,” he said. “We do the best we can, but this facility has some real limitations. This is such a huge project, but it’s critically important for our community.”
