Six of the 11 sites identified as possible locations of a federal detention facility are located in Pahrump, according to a notice published in the Federal Register last Thursday.

The public will have a chance to comment on the proposed facility during a public scoping meeting scheduled at 7 p.m. June 19 in the Bob Ruud Community Center.

The U.S. Department of Justice published a notice of intent to prepare a draft environmental impact statement for the detention facility which would house from 1,000 to 1,500 detainees awaiting trail in federal court or deportation by the immigration service.

Besides Pahrump there are two sites being studied in the Apex Industrial Zone, near the Clark County landfill, about 18 miles northeast of Las Vegas.

Sites are being considered in Dolan Springs in northwestern Arizona, in Kingman, Ariz., and in Moapa Valley, northeast of Las Vegas.

The six Pahrump sites identified in the Federal Register include: 1600 E. Mike Road, 2250 E. Mesquite Ave., 2871 E. Mesquite Ave., 8251 E. Panaca Ave./8500 E. Huxley Ave., 630 E. Parque Ave. and 6871 N. Blagg Road.

Al Balloqui, a member of a committee working locally on the detention center proposal, said one Mesquite Avenue site is on 40 acres owned by Nye County; another is 120 acres on land in which Corrections Corporation of America has an option to purchase.

While the sites are primarily in the northeast side of Pahrump Valley east of Highway 160 and north of Basin Avenue, Balloqui said one site is near the Front Site Firearms Training Academy on the far southern tip of Nye County.

Balloqui said the firms will be asked to submit bids by Aug. 1 under the latest time line. The federal government will take 30 to 45 days to review the bids and is expected to award a contract by Oct. 1. He said the companies would then have a year to complete the project.

Balloqui said the Pahrump area doesn't have a prevailing wage statistic to use as a criteria, but the standard annual salary for detention center employees has been set at $37,200.

The notice states over the past 20 years the federal detainee population has experienced unprecedented growth as a result of expanded federal law enforcement initiatives and resources.

During that time, the detainee population increased over 1,000 percent from about 3,000 in 1981 to over 55,000 detainees today.

Prisoners are currently housed in a combination of local, state, federal and private facilities. Local jail space is increasingly needed to house local offenders, leaving less space available for the contractual accommodation of federal detainees.

The severe shortage of bed space led the Office of Federal Detention Trustee and the U.S. Marshal's Service to contract for detention services, the notice states.

The contractor-owned and operated detention facility must be located within 75 miles of the Lloyd D. George U.S. Federal Courthouse, at 333 Las Vegas Boulevard South in Las Vegas.