High Desert State Prison is a maximum security state prison in unincorporated Clark County, Nevada, near Indian Springs, northwest of Las Vegas. It is the largest institution of the Nevada Department of Corrections and the newest, having opened on September 1, 2000. Since September 2024, the men's death row is located here. It has a capacity of 4,176.

Facilities

The complex lies approximately northwest of Las Vegas along highway 95.

Notable inmates

{|class="wikitable sortable"

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!width=13%|Inmate Name

!width=10%|Register Number

!width=28%|Status

!width=35%|Details

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|style="text-align:center;"| Chester Stiles

|style="text-align:center;"| 1036868

| Serving 21 life sentences.

| Convicted child sexual abuser who recorded himself committing rape with a toddler, as well as molesting a 6-year-old.

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| style="text-align:center;"| Jason Griffith

| style="text-align:center;"| 1125188

| Serving 10 years to life.

| Convicted of murdering his girlfriend Debbie Flores Narvaez.

|-

|}

  • O. J. Simpson, former Buffalo Bills running back, was briefly held at High Desert State Prison following his conviction in December 2008. He was then transferred to the Lovelock Correctional Center in Pershing County before being released in 2017.
  • Musician Ronnie Radke was incarcerated in High Desert State Prison from August 2008 to December 2010 on possession of a dangerous weapon and probation violation charges.
  • Chaz Higgs, a former nurse who was convicted of murder in the death of his wife, Nevada State Controller Kathy Augustine, is serving a 20-year to life sentence at High Desert State Prison.
  • MMA fighter War Machine is incarcerated here. He was sentenced to 36 years to life for severely beating his ex-girlfriend, Christy Mack.
  • Thomas Randolph, a Las Vegas murderer, the subject of a 2021 NBC three-part Dateline documentary, "The Widower", by producer Dan Slepian. Randolph was found guilty in 2017 by a jury, of the 2008 first-degree murders of his 6th wife and his handyman. Randolph's crimes, the murder investigations, and his murder trial, were documented as part of a 13-year investigation by NBC. He received two death sentences in 2017. Those two death sentences were overturned on appeal in December 2020. No new trial date for Randolph has been set as of February 2021.
  • The 13th Duke of Manchester, who was sentenced to five years imprisonment for burglary in 2017.
  • Erich Nowsch, convicted of the high-profile 2015 murder of Tammy Meyers in Las Vegas, which was the subject of multiple episodes of ABC’s show 20/20, is currently serving a life sentence in the prison.
  • Henry Ruggs III, former Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver. Convicted of DUI resulting in death for the November 2, 2021 vehicular accident that killed a 23 year old woman and her dog. He is currently serving a sentence of between 3 and 10 years.
  • Scott Thorson, who had sued Liberace for palimony, convicted of credit card fraud.
  • Duane "Keffe D" Davis, who was criminally charged in September 2023 with having a role in the murder of Tupac Shakur and was previously still incarcerated at the Clark County Detention Center by September 2025, is currently serving a separate 16-40 month prison sentence at High Desert State Prison for a jailhouse fight conviction he received in September 2025.

See also

References

  • High Desert State Prison