By Sandra Chereb, Las Vegas Review-Journal 

CARSON CITY — The ouster of the Nevada Department of Corrections director signals changes are coming to the beleaguered agency at the insistence of Gov. Brian Sandoval.

The Republican governor on Sept. 14 abruptly called for the resignation of Greg Cox, saying a “change in leadership” was necessary to move the department forward.

Sandoval did not hide his annoyance when he found out, the day before it was promised, that a report from an outside agency on use of force at state prisons would be late and unavailable for discussion at the Sept. 15 meeting of the Board of Prison Commissioners.

That report, being conducted by the Association of State Correctional Administrators, was commissioned earlier this year after a string of incidents at Nevada prisons, beginning in November when officers at High Desert State Prison outside Las Vegas shot and killed one inmate and wounded another. Lawyers say both were handcuffed behind their backs.

The death was not disclosed until four months later when the Clark County coroner ruled it a homicide.

Read the whole story