LAS VEGAS (AP) — Nevada Gov. Jim Gibbons has set plans in motion to close Nevada State Prison in Carson City, despite a lack of approval by the state Legislature.

But Nev. Secretary of State Ross Miller said Gibbons overstepped his authority in managing the state's prisons, and called for an emergency meeting next week of the Board of Prison Commissioners to discuss the issue.

Miller said Nevada's constitution specifically gives the prisons board authority over the prisons.

The governor's position is that he doesn't need legislative approval to phase out the prison and transfer about 650 inmates and more than 200 employees, Gibbons spokesman Dan Burns said Thursday. A call to Burns after office hours by The Associated Press on Thursday was not immediately returned.

Burns said in an interview earlier Thursday that inmate transfers have already started and will take about six to eight months.

Gibbons announced that monthly furloughs for prison employees will start July 1.

Nevada State Prison employees will be used to help plug gaps created by furloughs in other facilities, Burns said.

"The intent is to have none of them (the employees) impacted by this," Burns said. "The hope is that all 208 positions can be moved to other DOC posts."

A phone call to the Nevada Department of Corrections by the AP was not immediately returned.

Gibbons said closing the prison will save the state at least $3 million per year. Burns said that number is down from $12 million, had the prison been closed when first recommended one and a half years ago.

Legislators wrapped a six-day special session March 1 without choosing to close the prison, as Gibbons pushed. Gibbons, now a lame duck after losing in a GOP primary election this month to Brian Sandoval, targeted the facility for closure.

Legislative leaders declared the plan dead in February, with Assembly Speaker Barbara Buckley, D-Las Vegas, saying shutting down the old prison would cost money in the long run.

The American Federation of State, County and Municipal employees had protested the disruption for prison guards.

The Nevada Department of Corrections runs eight other facilities in the state. Nevada State Prison was established in 1862 and was rebuilt after an 1867 fire.

"There are cells where the bars don't work. It has outlived its usefulness," Burns said. "It's had a great life, but it's over."