Wouldn't it be nice if suspects just walked in the front door of the Nye County Sheriff's Office and turned themselves in?

Well, sometimes they do.

That's what happened with two individuals last week who were wanted by the law but apparently forgot that little fact. Jeffrey Scott Nance was arrested in the small front office of the Sheriff's Office on Basin Avenue when he came by for his annual check up as a registered sex offender.

He was required to tell the office where he physically resided and if he had relocated. But Nance seems to have forgotten about from whence he came.

What had happened, unbeknownst to Nance, was he had failed to register as an offender in Texas, where he formerly resided. So Texas authorities had an outstanding warrant for his arrest, posted on law enforcement's computer network.

Even though he had been living in Pahrump for the past two years or so, Nance never told Texas of his whereabouts. He was as hot as an illegal alien.

Carolyn Ramirez also came into the front office on some personal business last week and was arrested on police business.

When her file came up, it turned out that California had an outstanding warrant for her arrest on a charge of felony burglary.

Asked whether front-office arrests were unusual in the county's main law enforcement office, Capt. Bill Becht of the southern command said, "As stupid as it may sound, it happens lots more often than you'd think."

Becht said once or twice a week someone walking in the front door is arrested on an outstanding warrant.

"They're forgetful," he said.